Shannon

My 1st year of college is almost over. :)

Hey!

    One more day of classes before finals!!! I can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of college! I'm very happy to only have one more day of my MWF (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) classes. At least I don't have band on Fridays... Speaking of band, I'm finished with it for the semester. I'm also done with Dignitas as of today. 

    Today was pretty busy. I took the biology lab practical this morning at 8:30. (I'm done with general biology lab!) We had to do a lot of identifying of structures/organs on a fetal pig...well, multiple fetal pigs. I'm not really sure how I did. I thought it was confusing having to identify different structures on different pigs, because I couldn't tell which organs were taken out of some of them. Some of the organs were taken out so that you could see the ones underneath them.

     I worked for two hours after I took the lab final. Then I had my last Spanish tutoring session. I'm glad to be done with those! I wish they weren't required because they're sort of a nuisance. They're very beneficial, though, so I shouldn't complain. After that, I had a little bit of time to grab some lunch before Dignitas. In Dignitas, we just had to complete the professor evaluations and class evaluations, which only took about fifteen minutes. It was nice. :)

    I studied for a little while after that, then it was time for bingo. It was also my last day of volunteering at bingo. I really like volunteering at it, so it's not exciting like finishing classes. Maybe I will be able to do some volunteering this summer.

    I've mostly been studying biology tonight. We got our study guide for the final, so I've been trying to organize everything. I need things to be organized! I'm kind of anal in that way...hahaha. :)I'm going to go call my madre now. Have a wonderful Friday!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

3 More Days of Lectures!

Hey everyone!

    How's your week going? Mine is going alright, I guess. I had my last clarinet lesson today and it went very well. :) I'm officially done with one of my classes! After tomorrow, I will be done with another and then another after Thursday. We have our last day of band tomorrow and then we wrap up Dignitas on Thursday. :) There are only 3 more days of lectures.

    I got a lot of studying done tonight. My main focus is the biology lab practical and the calculus final, because they are the soonest. Biology lab is on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and calculus is on Monday at 10 a.m. Then it just leaves Spanish on Tuesday at 10 a.m. and biology on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Then I'm done! I'm just so excited and I can't stop thinking about it! You're probably getting tired of hearing about it, though. Well, that's really all that is going on in my life.

    Here's something more exciting for you... My family and I are going to Las Vegas the third week in May! I think I'm mostly excited to be done with classes because I can't wait to go there. We're going to see shows and the sights, relax, swim, and have a good time! As of right now, wer're planning to see The Phantom of the Opera, maybe a magic show, and visit the Grand Canyon! It will be a blast! :) :)

    I better get going, though. I told Laura I would proof-read a paper for her...well, it's 18 pages long. So I started proof-reading it and lost track of the time...so it's getting late and I'm tired. Talk to you later.

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Study, Study, Study, Study, Study, Study

Hello!

    I hope you all had a good weekend. :) Laura wanted to go home Saturday morning, so we did. It was a little ridiculous going home for one night, but it was fun and well worth it. I love going home and it won't be long and I will be moving home for the summer! Yay! I didn't do a whole lot this weekend. I mostly studied, practiced my clarinet, did laundry, and relaxed.

    This is our last week of classes before finals week! It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time so I don't really know how I feel. I guess I'm mostly just stressed. I think I better run tomorrow to relieve some of it. I don't have too many finals, though, compared to how many some people have. I have one in biology, calculus, and Spanish. The amount of time I'm going to have to spend studying for biology and calculus just might be as much time some people would spend studying for four finals...does that make sense? Well, put it this way, I'm going to be doing a lot of studying! It makes me feel more stressed writing about it, so I think I'll stop. Haha. :) On a happier note, I will be done with finals on Wednesday at 4:00! I'm very happy I don't have any on Thursday! :) :)

    I have my last clarinet lesson tomorrow. I'm kind of sad to be done with them, though, because I've learned so much and I learn more at each lesson. Now I have to practice what I've learned so I can improve on my own. :) We don't have biology lab tomorrow because we're taking our final lab practical on Thursday. There's going to be an open lab tomorrow so we can go and look at stuff, which is nice. Besides that I have to work my two hours. So it should be a pretty easy day. I have so much studying to do, so despite my lack of classes, I will be busy. I better get going now. I'm tired and I should really do some....you guessed it....studying!! Have a happy Tuesday!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

No More Concerts

Hey!

    Thursday is almost over and we're moving into Friday... This week started out slow but is speeding to the finish. I'm officially done with band now, well, the playing of instruments part. We have our last class next week on Wednesday. Our concert was Tuesday and we had our clarinet trio performance tonight. It went well, I think. I have one more clarinet lesson on Tuesday. 

    We had a cross country meeting tonight, where we ate and talked about the upcoming season. We're going to have a really big team. It's going to be crazy! I couldn't stay for the whole meeting because I had to meet with my clarinet ensemble members to rehearse a little and tune before the concert. The concert started at 7:30 and didn't get done until almost 9:00! There were only three different ensembles/groups playing (our clarinet trio, a flute trio, and the orchestra) and it took about the same amount of time as our band and jazz band concert. :S

    I didn't have to go to Dignitas today. I'm not really sure why, but I think if you have an A in the class, you didn't have to go today. So, I'm almost all done with that class. We just have to meet next week for course evaluations and such. :) How exciting! Because I didn't have class today, I slept in this morning...until 9:00. Then I got up and got ready, went to work for two hours, came back and ate lunch, studied calculus, and then went to bingo. I studied a little more after bingo and then it was about time to get dressed in my concert black and head to the cross country meeting. What a day, huh? I'm going to go review my calculus notes some more (we have a quiz tomorrow) and then go to bed.

Out for now...

Shannon :)

    

MayFest in April

Hello!

    It's Wednesday already and I haven't blogged once this week. I don't think I've been that busy... Well, Mondays are always busy for me and last night was pretty busy, I guess. I had my usual classes on Monday. I don't really remember what I did on Monday. How strange. I hope I'm not getting Alzheimer's already. I just turned 19 last Friday so you never know...I'm just kidding! Hahaha!

    I had a really good birthday! Laura's present to me was taking me out to eat at Olive Garden and to a movie. We rollerbladed in Canal Park after we ate. It was so nice that day! I think it was about 70+ degrees. It was cold the next day and hasn't been quite that warm yet ever since. It's getting warmer though. It was really nice today. My Dignitas class went on a trip up to the Minntec mines on Saturday. It was really interesting and neat to see. The tour got old after an hour...it was about two hours long. The tour guide must have thrown over 100 statistics at us and it started to get overwhelming. Overall, it was fun to see and I'm glad I went. It was a great weekend.

    Okay, back to this week. I'm all over the place, sorry. I don't remember Monday, like I said earlier. Yesterday was really exciting. My parents came up for my band concert!!! It was our last concert of the year. When they got up here, around 4:30, we went out to eat at Perkin's. It was very delicious! After that, it was time to get ready for the concert. I had to be in Mitchell at 6:15, so they had to wait around until 7:30--when the concert started. I'm just so glad they came! They're my #1 fans! :) So thanks, Mom and Dad! I know they'll read that because they always read my blog...actually I think they're the only ones who read it. Is there anyone out there who reads this??? If so, pop me a message/comment, ask questions, tell me what you think. I'm willing to answer any questions about the life of a St. Scholastica student. :) Sorry, I went off on another tangent again. The band concert was a success and a lot of fun!

    Today was pretty exciting. I had biology, Spanish, and about 5 minutes of calculus. Our calculus professor was planning on shortening our class today because the 31st annual Reif Run took place at 2:15 along with the many fun MayFest activities. This week is MayFest and I don't really know why...I guess it's just an excuse to have fun. :) I have a question, though. Why is it called MayFest if it's still April? Anyway, we were able to leave calculus early if we wanted to run the Reif Run. So Becca and I left because we really wanted to run it, but by the time we got our running clothes on the race had probably been going for about 15 minutes. We went for a run, though. We went on the trails through the woods on campus and ended on the soccer/football field. It has turf on it now, so it's really neat. I don't think it was there last fall...but it could have been. Becca taught me how to do a hand stand and the correct way to do a cart wheel. It was really fun! I got her into running and now she's teaching me how to do gymnastics stuff. :)

    After our run, we did some homework and then went to the BBQ in the Greenview. It was supposed to be really good...but the brats in one of the lines (there were two lines of the same food but everyone was using just one of the lines) were really burnt. They looked horrible and tasted worse. Anyway, Becca and I tried to get a brat from the other line (that no one was using) and the dining room workers yelled at us. We thought it was ridiculous because why should they even care? It's pretty funny to think about now...it was funny at the time, too. :)

    Well, that's what's going on in my life right now. I get more excited for summer everyday. I need to go practice my clarinet now. Have a happy Thursday!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

    

The Running Adventure

Hey!

    It's Friday tomorrow! It's going to be a busy one, though. I have my usual Friday classes (biology, Spanish, and calculus), plus my second Spanish tutoring session and I work for an hour after biology. Oh well, since it will be busy it will probably go fast. :)

    It was absolutely wonderful outside today. It was very sunny and warm. I love this weather! I hope it's just as nice tomorrow and through the weekend. I slept in until 8:30 this morning...a half an hour later than I usually get up on Thursdays. It felt good, though. Then I worked my two hours in admissions. I entered data for the first hour and then we had some mailing to do for my second hour. It was nice to have some mailing again for a change. So to all of you prospective students out there: if you get a St. Scholastica folder full of papers about the college and application stuff in the mail, you can think of me! :) 

    I didn't have dignitas today, just like I thought. It was nice because I used that time to finish my calculus assignment and to study Spanish. After that it was time for bingo! Bingo went really fast today. I think it was because I was constantly getting up and reading off numbers (bingos) for the people at my table. They were lucky today. :) It's always really fun because everyone gets really into it...except for the ones who fall asleep, haha. :)

    After bingo, Becca and I went for a run. We probably ran between five and six miles. I showed her the trails by UMD (in Bagley Nature Center) and we ran around in there for a while. Then we ended up coming out on Arrowhead and ran on it until we came to Kenwood. Then we ran past the college and turned on Partridge street (just down the street from the college) and got on a trail that leads to the college trails. I've only gotten onto the college trails from that way one other time before today, so I wasn't really sure where I was going...I warned Becca beforehand. :) We didn't end up on the trail I was hoping we would, so it turned into a bit of an adventure. Numerous puddles, plenty of mud, and a dozen minor scrapes from twigs/branches later...we finally ended up behind one of the apartment buildings along Kenwood. It was all good from there. I told Becca that now she knows what it's like to be a cross country runner; because we got lost, ran through a lot of mud, walked across two tree bridges to get over very large puddles, and eventually found our way without running longer than we were supposed to. :) It was a perfect day for a run.

    Well, I better get going now. I'm just going to review some Spanish, maybe read a little, and then go to bed. Have a happy weekend!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

What day is it?

Hey everyone!

    I hope you're week is going great! Not having classes on Monday has really disoriented my schedule, because I keep thinking it's a day earlier than it really is. I kept thinking it was Tuesday all day today and I can't get used to the fact that it's Thursday tomorrow. I'm very happy that it is, though. :) So, I decided to change my font because change is good. I was getting sick of "Georgia" and decided to go with "Comic Sans MS". Do you like it?

    Today was pretty good. Wednesdays are one of my busy days, so they're usually not too fun. Biology was interesting this morning. We started the chapter on the digestive system! It's really cool so far! I really enjoyed learning about plants, because there is much more to them than I could have ever imagined. It's nice to be moving onto something new, though. In Spanish, we reviewed for our upcoming test that's on Friday. I don't think it should be too hard...at least I hope it's not. We started learning about anti-derivatives in calculus about two weeks ago and we continued learning about them again today. So far so good. :) Band was a little frustrating today because everyone seemed to be a little wound up. I blame the super nice weather...but our director wasn't too pleased. I'm guessing it's because we have a concert next Tuesday.

    Apparently we don't have dignitas again tomorrow. This will be the third week in a row that we haven't had it, I think. I'm not totally sure what's going on in the class. All I know is that we're required to go on a trip to the mines this Saturday. I've heard it's fun, so I'm a little excited. However, I'm not excited that we're going this Saturday because it cuts into the weekend...and my birthday is on Friday! It will be fine, though. :)

    Since we don't have dignitas tomorrow, I only have to work and volunteer. I'm going to try and get my second Spanish tutoring session in, though, since I don't have class. If I can't tomorrow, I'll try and fit it in on Friday. Other than that, I need to study Spanish and finish my calculus assignment. I should probably start tonight, so I better get going. 

Out for now...

Shannon :)   

It's Going Fast

Hello again!

    Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Let me fill you in. Last week (Tuesday and Wednesday) went really fast. I spent most of Tuesday studying for my biology test. Then Wednesday came, I took the test, the rest of the day flew by, and I was home in no time. :) Easter break went by way too fast, which for that reason, wasn't any different than any other break. It was really nice, though, and definitely needed. I really can't remember what I did on Thursday and Friday. They're just a blur. Oh-I do remember that Laura, Robbie (my big brother), and I went to see the movie "Knowing" Friday night. It was really weird and a little creepy. There was definitely some religous symbolism in it, which made it a little more weird because it was unclear and kind of confusing. Overall, though, it was pretty good. The special effects and such were really incredible.

    We sort of celebrated my birthday while I was home! That was fun! I got some new rollerblades from my parents...well, new to me. We got them used from Play it Again Sports. They're really nice and probably cost a lot of money new. They're so smooth. I like them. :) My brother got me Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which is so amazing! I wanted it so bad! It's like the best piece of music to a clarinetist. I've been working on the third movement, Rondo, in my clarinet lessons. So I'm happy to have the whole concerto. :) It will be sad not to be home for my birthday. I've never not seen my family on my birthday. :( I'll get to see Laura, so we'll probably have to do something fun that day (Friday).

    I hope you all had a happy Easter. I sure did. We went to my aunt and uncle's house in Little Falls. It was nice to spend time with the extended family. We went to the Easter Vigil at church on Saturday night. It was really neat, but just a wee bit long. It was two and a half hours... It was nice to sleep in on Easter, though. :)

    We had Monday off, as well. I had lunch with Charissa, one of my good high school friends. It was fun to catch up with her and hear how college is going for her. It sounds like she feels the same way as me...ready for summer. :) Who isn't, though?

    Today was pretty relaxing. It's nice skipping Monday and starting on Tuesday. I had biology lab this morning. We started dissecting fetal pigs, which was really fun. I love dissecting things. I did pretty much all of the cutting. :) I'm really starting to think I would like being a surgeon... I worked for two hours after lab. Then I had my clarinet lesson and clarinet ensemble after that. It was a good day. Now I'm sitting at my desk in the suite, listening to Rascal Flatts. I'll probably finish up my Spanish assignment, read some biology, and then go to bed. Have a great Wednesday!

Out for now...

Shannon :) 

Happy Monday :)

Hello everyone!

    I'm pleased to inform you that today wasn't another horrible Monday. :) I think it's probably because we have a three-day week, Easter is right around the corner, and it was a nice and sunny day! It's amazing how the weather can drastically affect a person's mood.

    I had my Monday classes, as usual. We finished up the last chapter that's going to be covered on our test in biology today. I feel like I've studied more for this test than I have for any other. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but I studied for almost four and a half hours straight on Saturday. I only took a couple short breaks. It was insane and terribly productive. I typed everything out that we need to know (based on our study guide) and even included figures/diagrams that we need to understand. My reward after all of that was watching Twilight with Becca, Nikki, Laura, and Ashley (a friend of Nikki's who happens to be in my Spanish class). We ate popcorn and had a fun time. :)

    Since I started talking about my weekend, I might as well finish it... Laura, Becca, and I went to Canal Park on Sunday to run on the boardwalk. It was so fun! Becca and I ran for an hour and a half, which was probably about nine miles. We started where the boardwalk starts, ran all the way to the Glensheen Mansion, turned around, and ended where we had started. It was a perfect day for a run, too. :)

    Alright, back to today. In Spanish, we're learning how to compare things. I've already learned it, but it's nice to review. Besides that, we're going into much more depth than the first time I learned it, which was probably my sophomore year in high school. Wow...that seems like forever ago. In calculus, we had our extra credit oppportunity...more like needed credit. We got to work in groups, so that was really nice. After that I had band. It was just band...nothing special. Then we had clarinet ensemble, which was productive. We perform on April 23rd and we still have a lot to improve on. 

    That was my day. This week is off to a great start and hopefully it will continue to stay great. :) I need to go study more biology now. I don't think I will ever be able to study enough for it and that scares me. So I better get going. Talk to you tomorrow.

Out for now...

Shannon :) 

T.G.I.F.

Hey there!

    Thank goodness it's Friday! It's been a long week. On Monday, I thought today would never come. But now it's here and I have a ton to do. I have five chapters worth of biology to study and it will be six chapters after Monday. It's just a little overwhelming... I think I have a good start already, though, so hopefully I can be extremely productive this weekend. :) I need to practice my clarinet and review some calculus, as well. The fun never ends.

    Today was a fun day! I had my usual Friday classes. I was excited to get my Spanish quiz back and see that I got 100%! I'm not sure how I did on my biology quiz. I guess I'll find out soon enough. Apparently the majority of my calculus class did horribly on the test. I know I contributed to it. We have the opportunity to earn some extra credit, though, on Monday.

    Becca and I ran for an hour outside after calculus. It was really fun. :) Then we ate supper with Nikki and Ashley (she's in my Spanish class). Around 8:00, we went and checked out the Riot Hours in Storm's. Apparently RHA (I think that stands for Residential Housing Advisors) puts that on every year. It's like a western-themed thing. They had a mechanical bull, which was really interesting...haha. It was super funny to watch people fall off. :) I tried it once and it was pretty fun. We had a good time. Now I'm at Laura's. I'm spending the night and not doing anything productive. I'm too tired. I have all day tomorrow to study, so hopefully I can get a lot done. I'm going to bed now. Have a great weekend!

Out for now...

Shannon :)