The Last Friday Before the First Midterm...

It seems so daunting. So overwhelmingly different than anything you've ever done before. And at the same time, it's just another test, right? The dreaded midterms! They are officially upon us, or upon me, rather... and if there is any one thing that I can say about them it's that I am just as anxious for them to be over here as I was for them to be over at my former community college.

That being said, I feel very uneasy about the whole business of midterms. It's not that I'm "worried" as much as it's just that I feel totally unprepared. Totally.

Which is sad, a little, because I am that person that makes flash cards and does all of the reading and gets A's on the homework and shows up and participates in every lecture and discussion section and I still feel like I have no idea what to expect.

It doesn't help that I have meetings with two profs next week to discuss the final project for those classes. REALLY? Is it even possible to start discussing final project topics yet? I need to get focused and super quick like!

And, hello...? I have to start planning out my spring semester classes already! It's crazy talk! (Of course the crazier talk is the fact that I'm seriously thinking about taking 3 science classes with labs next semester. Really though, Bio, Paleontology, and the follow up to Bioarchaeology, who wouldn't want that schedule!??)


In other news, I'm meeting people and making friends. I would call it "networking" if I didn't intend on keeping these people in my life for years and years to come. I have some plans for my time here. Good plans that will help people like me in the future. Plans like a single parent student club that will provide emergency cash assistance to struggling single parents through donations & fundraising efforts, and that will hopefully (we have yet to talk to that department head) offer tutoring and mentoring assistance to the school aged children of single parents while they are in school, from education or child development type majors who can use this experience for units while us single parents benefit from having someone to watch/assist our children after school.

It's all sort of complicated, but I have a Psych major friend who is working with me, and together we will make it work. Even if it doesn't end up helping us, we want to put in it place for the next generation of old single moms trying to get through all this crazy red tape.

This is in addition to the time I'm going to volunteer working in the archaeology lab. And also in addition to the time I would like to spend getting dirty at the actual dig site.

These are amazing things that I'm being given the chance to participate in. I'm not sure what I did to deserve all of this, but I sure am happy about all of it!


They want you to think here. Not just in the bathroom stalls in the art building, but all of the time. When I came to Berkeley, not only had I never heard the term "research based school" before, but I never would have been able to tell you what that even meant! Now, I'm involved in actual research projects, at an actual research based school. I am working on things that will be published, not maybe, but definitely. I am involved in projects that I never could have even imagined being involved in just a few months ago. I have plans and ideas for new research projects as well. I love it here.

Can I really do it all...? Who knows! But I'm going to have a damn good time trying to find out :)