Week One

Week one: Check.

I’m back at school for my second semester of my junior year. Christmas break was really wonderful in so many ways. I got to spend time with family and friends in Oregon. I also had a lot of time to relax and read. I think I read something like eleven books. It was so nice to just to get my head out of school for a while. Fall semester, while extremely rewarding, exciting, and just plain fun, was very exhausting both physically and mentally. So it was nice to be home and have time to sleep. The many conversations I had with my family and friends meant so much to me, and I was able to spend some time with most of the people at home that I care the most about.

That said break was also hard and challenging in ways. I won’t go into everything, but just knowing that I wouldn’t be home until May and then only for a week made the ‘goodbyes’ that much harder. Suffice it to say that I came back to school with a lot to think and pray about.

Last week was difficult to get through. I was still mentally back in Oregon, with everyone there that I loved, and trying to focus on school was nearly impossible. But as of this weekend I am now back into the swing of things. It was/is so nice to be back and see friends again. I now have my family at home and my school family. (I’m still trying to decide which family is stranger).

My class load this semester is a little lighter than usual. Analytical Chemistry, Genetics, Studies in Lit. Philosophy, Fencing, and research. Even though my classes are less work, I am also studying to take the MCAT in May so I’m about at busy as I normally am.

As usual, I am involved with pre-health club, running ECD club, participating in Martial Arts club, and spending what other free time I have hanging out with friends. (And maybe trying to sleep a bit as well).


Cheers!

Laura


Amendment 1: Fencing is, so far, one of my favorite classes. We just started learning to use a foil, and will later learn some epee and saber.

Amendment 2: In genetics class we have already made antibiotic resistant E. coli. Very cool and very fun stuff.

Happy 2010!

2010! Can it really be 2010? It really seems like just yesterday we were ringing in 2009. 2009 was the first year that I spent more time away from Oregon than in Oregon, and in 2010 I will be spending even less time at my Oregon home.

I am leaving for school on Saturday, and I won't be back in Oregon until mid-May, and then only for a week. I'll go back to school after that for summer research. I will be home for about four weeks in August before going back to California to start my senior year of college.

Christmas break has been wonderful. I have had a chance to rest and relax. I have also been able to see most of the people I am close to here. I have finally been able to read for enjoyment again. I've gotten through a lot of books that I have really wanted to read: Three Agatha Christie mystery books, Dante's Inferno, Arcadia, Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency, Till We Have Faces, the Screwtape Letters, the Great Divorce, and the Hero and the Crown. A very productive break.

As usual, I ended up with a large number of additions to my personal library thanks to Christmas presents and Christmas money. Though I don't suppose I will have time to read any of them until I have another break, in other words, when spring semester is over.

Next semester will be a busy one with lots of classes, research, and preparing to take the MCAT.

Cheers!

Laura