Last January, I wrote a post talking about how surreal being within a year of graduation was. This past week was the first of my last semester in University as an undergraduate. While last semester left me in a bit of a dream, this semester is completely different.
I am taking my final courses, and all of them are challenging and demanding- there is no time to daydream about being done. My classes are project-heavy and are requiring more of me than I have at times. It is the culmination of my time at University, and it's only fitting that this semester will test me.
As diamonds can only form under extreme pressure, it is my dearest hope that at the end of this semester and as my undergraduate career closes I will emerge shining radiantly, having overcome the pressures and trials I do not yet see.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Two more semesters
Entering my second to last semester at University is surreal. It's so surreal that when I went to pick up the papers to apply for graduation next December, I thought I was in a dream, or that it was some sort of trick my mind was playing on me.
My journey through University has been anything but seamless. In many ways, I feel as though I'm not qualified enough to graduate, like I didn't work hard enough in my classes to learn everything that I could, or like I didn't produce the work expected of me by my professors and my perfectionist self. Entering this semester feels strange to me, like I'm a cat that jumped in the window of a house and hasn't been discovered by the owner yet. I feel like at any moment, someone will come along and tell me that I don't know enough to graduate, or that I haven't worked hard enough. And maybe they'd be right.
Despite all of that, the opportunity to test my wings has been laid before me. The chance to graduate and find my own way in the world is a significant one, and I think that regardless of if I think I am ready or not, I should just dive in and take the chance to sink or swim.
These next two semesters are going to be tough for me, but I will give it my best so that I can soar on my graduation and there after! ^^
My journey through University has been anything but seamless. In many ways, I feel as though I'm not qualified enough to graduate, like I didn't work hard enough in my classes to learn everything that I could, or like I didn't produce the work expected of me by my professors and my perfectionist self. Entering this semester feels strange to me, like I'm a cat that jumped in the window of a house and hasn't been discovered by the owner yet. I feel like at any moment, someone will come along and tell me that I don't know enough to graduate, or that I haven't worked hard enough. And maybe they'd be right.
Despite all of that, the opportunity to test my wings has been laid before me. The chance to graduate and find my own way in the world is a significant one, and I think that regardless of if I think I am ready or not, I should just dive in and take the chance to sink or swim.
These next two semesters are going to be tough for me, but I will give it my best so that I can soar on my graduation and there after! ^^
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Changes
Hello there,
how is life?
So, as I've mentioned previously, time management is not my strongest suit- to be more clear, I could say that with everything I do, I often find that with my extra time I end up resting or relaxing instead of working on my personal projects like language and such. Well, things are kind of changing a bit. I was offered a job in my field of study that will actually free up a lot of my time compared to my current job, so my hope is that with my extra time that is freeing up, I can spend more time on personal projects. (oh my goodness do I have a lot of personal projects. o.o )
One of the things I am going to try to do is update this blog more often. It won't always be language related, but I'd like to get back into that again. So I'll do my best with that, and we shall see what comes of this new venture.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading!
how is life?
So, as I've mentioned previously, time management is not my strongest suit- to be more clear, I could say that with everything I do, I often find that with my extra time I end up resting or relaxing instead of working on my personal projects like language and such. Well, things are kind of changing a bit. I was offered a job in my field of study that will actually free up a lot of my time compared to my current job, so my hope is that with my extra time that is freeing up, I can spend more time on personal projects. (oh my goodness do I have a lot of personal projects. o.o )
One of the things I am going to try to do is update this blog more often. It won't always be language related, but I'd like to get back into that again. So I'll do my best with that, and we shall see what comes of this new venture.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading!
Saturday, August 23, 2014
My controversial two cents.
So, there's this thing going around the internet called the ALS ice bucket challenge.
This seems to be a controversial topic. Let's look at it. :D
So, the challenge is basically intended to raise awareness about a really awful disease called ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal chord and the brain. It essentially renders the body motionless. All in all, the campaign has a good intention.
The controversy comes with, in my opinion, the popularity that the campaign has gained. Let's be honest, watching someone get ice water dumped on their head is kind of funny. But it seems like this challenge has become just an ice bucket ordeal instead of an awareness raising campaign. In most of the videos going up, you're lucky if the person mentions what the campaign is for outsie of "it's the ALS ice bucket challenge", or where you can go to learn more about the disease. They are more excited to get to the part where they can list off their friends who they want to see get soaked in ice water.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing per se. Any and all awareness that is gained from this campaign is infinitely more awareness than there was before about ALS, and any money raised to help fund research for a way to end ALS is more than there was before that donation.
I've seen both sides of this whole thing about the campaign in comments and posts all over the internet. Some people have said that the campaign is a disgraceful stunt (I'm not sure I would go that far), others have said that it is a creative way to bring awareness about a terrible disease. I've also heard that other countries around the world want us noisy Americans to just be quiet and make our donations silently. I kind of lean in the middle of these opinions. I think that the campaign is really creative and makes the best use of social media's ability to spread word like wildfire, and it has spread the word about ALS effectively- the only people I had ever met before this campaign in real life or on the internet who had any clue as to what ALS was were the family I know who is dealing with it. But I think that a lot of people miss the point of it and just make noise and throw ice on themselves and each other for the fun of it, missing the whole point of the campaign and thus causing skepticism of the campaign and it's effectiveness/worth.
OK, my two big issues with this whole mess are-
1. I don't understand why people have to go as far as to actually argue with people and hurt each other's feelings over a virtual campaign that they don't have to take part in if they don't want to. You are in control of you. Plain and simple. If you don't want to do something, that's great; don't do it. No one can make you do something you don't want to do. Likewise, if you want to do something and the opportunity arises, great! Go ahead and do it. Why are people getting so upset at those who are willingly choosing to take part in this campaign.
2. If you're going to do something to raise awareness about a cause, at least find out a little bit about what you are supporting! I'm really glad that ALS is finally getting some publicity, but I don't want it to be something only known about because of baseball greats and ice buckets. I want people to have a more common knowledge of ALS, because it is just as deadly, if not more so, than diseases like cancer. We all have some idea of what cancer is and what it does to the body, why not ALS? It isn't that hard when we have all the information we could ever ask for at our fingertips.
So, in conclusion, I just plain don't understand why people are putting so much energy into cutting down a campaign that is really just intended to help out a field of research that is vastly under-funded, and that could potentially make the lives of those living with ALS so much better. If it's not for you, then don''t worry about it. If it's something you want to take part in, go ahead. All this comes down to personal choice, not "the majority doesn't care so be quiet."
Here is another perspective on the campaign from an ALS family.
And for the curious reader, yes, I did do the ice bucket challenge. And I dedicated it to Kepler Nigh, who I and my family have watched lose strength and mobility in his body to the point where only his eyes can still move. And he continues to keep hope. He is one of my heroes.
This seems to be a controversial topic. Let's look at it. :D
So, the challenge is basically intended to raise awareness about a really awful disease called ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal chord and the brain. It essentially renders the body motionless. All in all, the campaign has a good intention.
The controversy comes with, in my opinion, the popularity that the campaign has gained. Let's be honest, watching someone get ice water dumped on their head is kind of funny. But it seems like this challenge has become just an ice bucket ordeal instead of an awareness raising campaign. In most of the videos going up, you're lucky if the person mentions what the campaign is for outsie of "it's the ALS ice bucket challenge", or where you can go to learn more about the disease. They are more excited to get to the part where they can list off their friends who they want to see get soaked in ice water.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing per se. Any and all awareness that is gained from this campaign is infinitely more awareness than there was before about ALS, and any money raised to help fund research for a way to end ALS is more than there was before that donation.
I've seen both sides of this whole thing about the campaign in comments and posts all over the internet. Some people have said that the campaign is a disgraceful stunt (I'm not sure I would go that far), others have said that it is a creative way to bring awareness about a terrible disease. I've also heard that other countries around the world want us noisy Americans to just be quiet and make our donations silently. I kind of lean in the middle of these opinions. I think that the campaign is really creative and makes the best use of social media's ability to spread word like wildfire, and it has spread the word about ALS effectively- the only people I had ever met before this campaign in real life or on the internet who had any clue as to what ALS was were the family I know who is dealing with it. But I think that a lot of people miss the point of it and just make noise and throw ice on themselves and each other for the fun of it, missing the whole point of the campaign and thus causing skepticism of the campaign and it's effectiveness/worth.
OK, my two big issues with this whole mess are-
1. I don't understand why people have to go as far as to actually argue with people and hurt each other's feelings over a virtual campaign that they don't have to take part in if they don't want to. You are in control of you. Plain and simple. If you don't want to do something, that's great; don't do it. No one can make you do something you don't want to do. Likewise, if you want to do something and the opportunity arises, great! Go ahead and do it. Why are people getting so upset at those who are willingly choosing to take part in this campaign.
2. If you're going to do something to raise awareness about a cause, at least find out a little bit about what you are supporting! I'm really glad that ALS is finally getting some publicity, but I don't want it to be something only known about because of baseball greats and ice buckets. I want people to have a more common knowledge of ALS, because it is just as deadly, if not more so, than diseases like cancer. We all have some idea of what cancer is and what it does to the body, why not ALS? It isn't that hard when we have all the information we could ever ask for at our fingertips.
So, in conclusion, I just plain don't understand why people are putting so much energy into cutting down a campaign that is really just intended to help out a field of research that is vastly under-funded, and that could potentially make the lives of those living with ALS so much better. If it's not for you, then don''t worry about it. If it's something you want to take part in, go ahead. All this comes down to personal choice, not "the majority doesn't care so be quiet."
Here is another perspective on the campaign from an ALS family.
And for the curious reader, yes, I did do the ice bucket challenge. And I dedicated it to Kepler Nigh, who I and my family have watched lose strength and mobility in his body to the point where only his eyes can still move. And he continues to keep hope. He is one of my heroes.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
I'm terrible at this whole blog thing
Many, MANY times now I have said that I want to post more regularly on my blog here about language learning and stuff like that.
Truth is I'm terrible at remembering to get on here and write.
So, I will write on here, but there will be no guarantee on consistency, frequency, length of posts, or anything like that. Because I'm just kind of bad at that.
I guess I can give an update on language learning while I'm here:
Since it's been summer I have had more free time to work on projects. I also seem to have had a lot more projects than I had planned.
My family and I have been remodeling our back porch, my brother has come to visit from out of town, I've had work, I've had art projects and music projects and video projects, and those got pushed into the limelight of my life this summer. Which means that language was pushed out a bit.
The Fall semester is starting again at the end of this month, though, and with the structure of classes comes an easy way to structure my time to fit in everything I want to. I will be in my third semester of German at my University, so I will most certainly have time to work on that. I'd like to find time to review my Japanese as well at some point. I feel like it has been so long since I've reviewed anything and I don't remember a lot of the vocabulary I was working on. Unfortunate.
So, all in all, life happens and we just get back to doing what we do. I can't guarantee posts, but I'll certainly be here.
Until next time, tschüß, meine freunden!
Truth is I'm terrible at remembering to get on here and write.
So, I will write on here, but there will be no guarantee on consistency, frequency, length of posts, or anything like that. Because I'm just kind of bad at that.
I guess I can give an update on language learning while I'm here:
Since it's been summer I have had more free time to work on projects. I also seem to have had a lot more projects than I had planned.
My family and I have been remodeling our back porch, my brother has come to visit from out of town, I've had work, I've had art projects and music projects and video projects, and those got pushed into the limelight of my life this summer. Which means that language was pushed out a bit.
The Fall semester is starting again at the end of this month, though, and with the structure of classes comes an easy way to structure my time to fit in everything I want to. I will be in my third semester of German at my University, so I will most certainly have time to work on that. I'd like to find time to review my Japanese as well at some point. I feel like it has been so long since I've reviewed anything and I don't remember a lot of the vocabulary I was working on. Unfortunate.
So, all in all, life happens and we just get back to doing what we do. I can't guarantee posts, but I'll certainly be here.
Until next time, tschüß, meine freunden!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
German and Kpop!
Hallo, meine Freunden! Wie geht's? (hello my friends! how are you?)
A friend of mine and I are practicing language together, and for now I'm working on German. We're sending messages with audio files attached back and forth (one a week each) so that we can practice speaking out languages of study. ^^ Even though she's learning Korean and I'm currently working on German it works out. We have the audio of us speaking, then we have the written text in language, and then we have the translation. They're really short. ^^; It's a lot of fun, and since I'd like to start posting more again (what with the summer and all) I'd like to at least include some of the text here every week. ^^ So, here is week one!
Deutsch Woche 1:
Hallo! Meine AKMU CD ist gestern gekommen!
Es ist sehr gut! Mein Lieblingslied ist 'Melted', aber es ist traurig. Ich mag auch 'Little Star'. Ich weis nicht der name auf Koreanisch. ^^;
So! Was ist dein Lieblingslied? Magst du AKMU? Was ist deine LieblingsKpopgrouppe?
Hello! My AKMU CD came yesterday!
It's really good! My favorite song is 'Melted', but it's sad. I also like 'Little Star'. I don't know the name in Korean.
So! What is your favorite song? Do you like AKMU? What is your favorite Kpop group?
---------
I know I'm not very good at German yet, and I know I have mistakes there, just bear with me as I get better. As always, if you see a mistake, feel free to let me know! I appreciate it!
So hopefully I'll have these little posts up once a week. ^^ I'm working on a study schedule for 日本語(Japanese) as well, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I'll see you again soon!
Das ist alles, tschüss! じゃね！
A friend of mine and I are practicing language together, and for now I'm working on German. We're sending messages with audio files attached back and forth (one a week each) so that we can practice speaking out languages of study. ^^ Even though she's learning Korean and I'm currently working on German it works out. We have the audio of us speaking, then we have the written text in language, and then we have the translation. They're really short. ^^; It's a lot of fun, and since I'd like to start posting more again (what with the summer and all) I'd like to at least include some of the text here every week. ^^ So, here is week one!
Deutsch Woche 1:
Hallo! Meine AKMU CD ist gestern gekommen!
Es ist sehr gut! Mein Lieblingslied ist 'Melted', aber es ist traurig. Ich mag auch 'Little Star'. Ich weis nicht der name auf Koreanisch. ^^;
So! Was ist dein Lieblingslied? Magst du AKMU? Was ist deine LieblingsKpopgrouppe?
Hello! My AKMU CD came yesterday!
It's really good! My favorite song is 'Melted', but it's sad. I also like 'Little Star'. I don't know the name in Korean.
So! What is your favorite song? Do you like AKMU? What is your favorite Kpop group?
---------
I know I'm not very good at German yet, and I know I have mistakes there, just bear with me as I get better. As always, if you see a mistake, feel free to let me know! I appreciate it!
So hopefully I'll have these little posts up once a week. ^^ I'm working on a study schedule for 日本語(Japanese) as well, so we'll see how that goes. Anyways, I'll see you again soon!
Das ist alles, tschüss! じゃね！
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Life
みんなさん、こんにちは！(minnasan, konnichiwa!) Hallo!
The end of the semester is almost upon us, summer is just around the corner!
I'd like to have more posts this summer again, I really enjoyed the Word of the Day posts last summer, so I may do those again this summer. I also want to do posts in German, not just Japanese.
I feel like up until now, studying and practicing has been more of an obligation than an enjoyment. I think it's important to enjoy what you learn, so I hope to have fun with learning language this summer!
Thank you for reading! Danke für deine Zeit! ありがとうございます!
You'll hear from me soon! ^^
じゃね！
The end of the semester is almost upon us, summer is just around the corner!
I'd like to have more posts this summer again, I really enjoyed the Word of the Day posts last summer, so I may do those again this summer. I also want to do posts in German, not just Japanese.
I feel like up until now, studying and practicing has been more of an obligation than an enjoyment. I think it's important to enjoy what you learn, so I hope to have fun with learning language this summer!
Thank you for reading! Danke für deine Zeit! ありがとうございます!
You'll hear from me soon! ^^
じゃね！
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