Rolling with the Punches

Rolling with the punches. I must say, this is hard for me. Sometimes, a right hook flies out of nowhere and hits you when you're completely unprepared. Is it possible then to roll with it? Or are you so off-balance that it knocks you off your feet into a One-hit KO? I think that some punches are just too hard to roll with.

Take today, for instance. Two punches, within half an hour, that left me staggering around with bruises and, I'm pretty sure, a nosebleed. Now, I won't go into detail on those punches in case the offending parties (party) ever reads this post. I don't want a retaliation punch, no thank you. But anyway, both of these punches came out of the blue and were completely unexpected. And because they came in such rapid succession, there was hardly any time to breathe in between.

So did I roll with the punches?

No. I didn't. I went back to my dorm room (skipping my next class, I might add, a very bad idea) and cried. Literally. Like tears, sniffles and tissue. I'm not even lying. I pulled out my slice of cookie cake, put in Enchanted and just basically sat and boo-hooed. It was not fun. And it was not productive.

Sometimes, things happen and you can't just move on. You can't just buck up and say everything's going to be okay and move on with life. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not still eating cookie cake and crying - okay I cried a bit while talking to my Mom on the phone and telling her about my day. But I have moved on. I've put it behind me and just vowed to never voice an opinion in class again. :-) It's hard to move on when you think you've been wronged or treated unjustly.

But that's what moving on is for. I'm about to go enjoy Vampire Diaries with some very good friends. I've had a pretty good afternoon, as long as I don't think about the morning. Moving on is a talent (skill) we all need to learn.

After all, if you aren't rolling with the punches, you'll never make it back to your feet. And we all know that if you aren't on your feet, you're going to be swept away.

Things I Wish I'd Known...Homework

You know what that old Chinese proverb is, that really smart one that makes you go "hmmm..." and tap your finger on your chin? Yeah, that one. Well, that's kind of like the reaction you are going to have at the end of this blog post. I am going to make you think, college students. No more Ms Funny, Ms Nice Girl. Nuh-uh. Time to put that brain to work. If mine is being used (and it is - I'm learning about media in the politics) then yours should be used to.

Today's topic is homework. I'm almost at Fall Break and, oh boy, I was gunning for Friday, when I could peace out and slide into my break. And then I made a mistake. The fatal, life-altering mistake that forever skewed my outlook on Fall Break and basically life in general. I looked at my planner.

And fainted.

Almost.

Actually, I think my heart skipped a few beats and maybe failed for a split second. Where did all this homework come from? Yes, people who believe the "H-word" is no longer part of your vocabulary after K-12 school is over. Homework exists in college. You better get used to it.

Professors in college don't always remind you when something is due. Some will. If you've got a paper due on Monday, some of the nicer professors will remind you the Friday before. Some won't. They'll expect you to refer to the syllabus to remember when things are due.

I had this happen to me already this semester. I forgot some articles were due, my professor didn't remind us (perfectly within his rights) and thus, I didn't turn it in. Had I checked my syllabus (or my planner), I'd have known it was due and I'd have turned it in.

So here's some good advice to remember when it comes to homework:

• Don't delude yourself. Homework is just as big (perhaps bigger) a part of your life in college as it was in high school
• Do your homework within the week that it is assigned. This applies mainly to reading assignments, math problems or homework like that, not long-range homework such as papers.
• Never wait until the night before. Something's always gonna come up
• KEEP YOUR SYLLABUSES. These will become your lifeline.
• Take it upon yourself to note when things are due - don't rely on your professors to baby you. They're not your mommy or daddy.

So put on your big-boy pants and get a start on that homework your professor assigned you this morning. Yes, I know you want to eat ice cream and lie on the bed and watch Pretty Little Liars but trust me - get your homework done first.

I know I've gotta get mine done before I can watch Terra Nova tonight...so now to take my own advice!!! Peace out!

Spring Break

Okay, we're deviating from the Things I Wish I'd Known series for this post. I'm sitting in my dorm room, clothes in my car, DVDs chosen and packed and easy mac packs loaded and on the backseat. Yep. You guessed it. It's time for Spring Break!

Ah, Spring Break. It comes but once a year and is a time for students to leave the schoolbooks at school, the hassles and stress in that last class, the projects in the dorm room. Students are to have fun, relax and rejuvenate for the upcoming last month and a half of the semester. Right? These are the acknowledged rules of Spring Break.

Oh, yeah. Don't delude yourself. Along with my DVDs (most of which I left at school), is a WalMart reusable bag full of books (not fun ones) and notebooks for projects. I have about three nonfiction books to read and reports to write on those books. I have about four chapters to read in my Anthropology book. I have to plan at least four lessons on World War II - if not more.

Not to mention that I'm working Tuesday, Wednesday and either Thursday or Friday next week. And I've got a list of things to do for the college ministry while they're on a mission trip next week. Plus, I'm supposed to observe next Monday at BRHS and then teach either Thursday or Friday. Teach. As in, in front of real live high school students.

So yeah. Spring Break. A week of relaxation and fun...and oodles and oodles of work! YAY!!

Things I Wish I'd Known...Paying Attention in Class

It is super duper hard to pay attention in class sometimes. Don't you agree? Especially if you're taking notes on the computer, with Facebook, email and Twitter at your fingertips. Maybe you are just going to check your Facebook for a second and, next thing you know, you've missed three bullet points of the teacher's lecture.

I wish I'd known how important it is to pay attention in class. I'm a writer. That's what I do - write. So lots of times, I am working on a novel or a fanfiction or a short story in class instead of taking notes. Or I'm reading random articles about LOST or Harry Potter instead of paying attention. Main point is: I'm not paying attention. It happens in a lot of my classes (or it did) but one example stands out the most.

Last semester, I took Microeconomics. Not the highlight of my school career, lemme tell you what. It was boring, dull and I didn't really give a rip about firms and markets. So I'd zone out, check Facebook, update my blog or work on my latest novel. I would tune in every now and then and get down the major points but I wasn't hearing what my Professor was saying. When it came time for the test, it showed. No amount of studying could help me because I had no idea what the concepts meant. I could memorize the terms and spit 'em back out at you but I didn't know what they were. So the first test was a major bust.

And yet I still didn't learn my lesson. I continued to goof off and not pay attention and bombed the second test as well. Then, finally, I learned my lesson and started paying attention in class. On the final test, I actually did well.

So now I'm trying to do better. Trying to pay attention in class, not doing the Internet during class...I still slip up sometimes (especially when said class is particularly boring) but I'm doing a lot better.

I only wish I'd known this sooner...

Start of Something New

Wow, I sound like a High School Musical song from the title of this, don't I? Let's hope not. Anyway, just a quick update before I head off to basketball (Cross your fingers my chicas can win, cause I think they're getting pretty tired of losing...) so that you people who creep my blog can get your Michelle fix that I know you've been craving. So here goes.

Well, it snowed last Sunday night into Monday morning - yes, here down in SC - and we got about six inches on Monday which then froze over into sheets of impenetrable ice. Even the roads were covered. Needless to say, North Greenville University delayed their start date a WHOLE WEEK!!! Just when I was ready to go back and see my peeps, nope! I was stuck inside for a whole nother week. Since the roads were terrible (and nowhere was open) I couldn't even escape to the outside world. I wasn't sure the outside world even existed anymore. I watched old TV programs on Netflix, like that old horse racing drama on ABC Family, Wildfire. It's pretty intense. I don't know why I ever stopped watching that, there are totally two hot guys on there! I have watched all my movies over this LOOOOONG winter break and so was digging into the depths of my Movie Boxes to find something I hadn't watched lately. Finally ended up on a X-Men marathon and I love those movies. I'm getting super excited for the X-Men First Class movie!!! AHHHH!!! I love X-MEN!! I also read a bunch of Star Wars books and an old Misfits Inc. book. Luckily, I did not degrade so far as to read school books. And, last but not least, about the third day of my imprisonment, I decided I was going to finish writing my romance novel before the end of this extended break. So I pushed and worked hard and wrote some junky parts but I FINISHED IT!!!! It's 190 pages - will get longer as I rewrite - and is not half bad, if I do say so myself. Some parts don't add up because I changed things as I went along but that's what rewriting is for, right?

Anyway, finally, today, I'm actually up and cracking and ready to go somewhere. My bball team doesn't play till 12 but for some reason, I haven't been able to sleep past eight this whole week. It's like my brain knows I'm supposed to be in 8 o'clock classes, even if the weather doesn't. So I'm up and not having to go anywhere quite yet but might go ahead and go just to have something to do. I dunno. Maybe not.

So this was basically just a Read What Happened To Me blog post but I hope you enjoyed it. I'll bring the next "issue" of my Things I Wish I'd Known article series sometime soon but for now...peace out!