The College Dilemma

So, most people in college have come up against this all important question by now, "Who am I going to room with next year?!" As of a couple days ago, I have finished my quest for the answer! *and there was much rejoicing* (two points to whoever gets the reference)

So, in practice for our Memoir assignment, sort of, I shall relate the saga of the roommate debate. Originally, my friend Carmen asked me if I would want to rent a house with her and 4 other people. We would have at least 1 dog (a big one) and around 4 cats. Now I wouldn't mind this arrangement, but after thinking about it, I just don't know whether I would be able to handle the responsibility of pitching in to care for the cats (the dog is the responsibility of the owner, I don't do dogs) while also doing school and working. Then, I was supposed to room with my friend Lizz from my hometown. We would be really good roommates, the only problem is that she really wants to room in an apartment, and I really don't. Hilltop has captured my heart and I really wanted to room in a 4 person 1 bedroom apartment next year. The other factor going for Hilltop is that with a 4-person room and no meal plan, it will be between $2,000 and $3,000 dollars for the whole year. So, I started sounding people out for this plan. The first person I recruited was actually Lizz's roommate, Brittany. She is driving Lizz up the wall (though she doesn't really know it) but I think we would work out ok. The second person I recruited is my friend Katie. That is gonna work out really well because not only is she awesome, she loves to cook as much as I do and makes really killer pizza, so we can split meal planning and cooking. Then, Katie asked her friend Corinne (pronounced Kor-ene) and she agreed. So we have our 4 people ^_^. I hope that at the very least Katie and I, but hopefully everyone can work out a system of communal food. We could all pitch in a certain amount and have a group grocery list so that we don't have to do the awkward lable-who's-food-is-who's thing. If we have to it would be ok, but I would really prefer not to.

Why can't I be an Electron?

Electrons can theoretically be in two places at once, it just takes a lot of energy. The amount of energy it would take to have a human be in two places at once would be unthinkable. Too bad.

I have so many things going on in the next two weekends I really wish I could be two places at once. On Fridays I play D&D, only next Friday I might be going to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament instead. This Sunday is the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, which I may be going to after I go to an honors banquet with my parents. Which means I have to get all my homework done on Saturday. (which is part of the reason I'm writing my blogs earlier than the day/hour before they are due) Then there are random events for my dorm or plans with my friends that I want to work in too. I wonder how much sleep I can get away with and still be cognizant?

All in all, I suppose it is better to be busy than bored, right? I suppose this is what you really learn in college, how to prioritize the activities in your life to get the most fun and work done.

On Test Taking

My AP physics teacher would occasionally give us advice about how to do better in the class, and one thing he told us was a method he used in college for studying for and taking tests. The first thing to do is study to your heart’s content up until 48 hours before the test. Then you stop. For the next 48 hours you do not study, you do not think about the material. Do something else. Then, in the hour or so before the test, you go over the material and see what you do and do not know. Then, when you take the test, you go in, prop your feet up, stick a lollipop in your mouth and take the test.

The method behind the madness is this. According to the information he had, the human brain takes about 48 hours to assimilate things. So if you stop studying 48 hours before the test, your brain will be able to assimilate all the information. When you go through the information to see what you don’t know, you are setting yourself up to be able to skip the questions you know you don’t know so that you can get to the ones you do know. Then if you have time afterwards you can go back to the trickier questions. The final piece of advice you don’t have to follow exactly, the principal is to be relaxed. When you are freaking out you are going to forget things. If you are relaxed you will be able to remember all the things that you know. Freak out while you are studying if you want, worry after if you want, but be calm during the test and you will do better on it.

Feeding yourself without the meal plan

When I was deciding where to live this year money was a real factor. Finally I found Hilltop. Initially, the idea of having my own kitchen attracted me, but when I learned that I didn’t have to have a meal plan I knew it was the perfect for me.

Cooking for myself is a lot harder than I initially thought it would be. I do know the basics of cooking, but I am much more experienced with baking. The first time I made spaghetti, for instance, it turned out really weird tasting. It was edible, but barely. I have a few cookbooks, but I need to learn how to judge what kind of spices to use and how much to use when I make things. Another problem I have been having is finding time to cook. It takes me a long time to do things and I have only an hour between classes to eat lunch. I have been falling back on the old peanut butter and jelly. I don’t mind because I love peanut butter and I have home made jam, but it does get tedious after a while. I don’t even have time to cook Ramen! For dinner oftentimes I am too tired to cook real food or I am eating at Earhart for work. Not that I’m complaining, I guess, but I have all this yummy food in my room that I want to cook, and I can never find the time to.