Finals Week

Monday

What's the best way to start finals week? Oh I know, let's have people give a presentation at 7 in the morning. Not just any presentation, a timed and memorized schpeel with 3 other people. Not fun at all. It went well, I averaged 47/50 on it. After that, me and a bunch of kids from the class and the teacher all went to the cannon center for breakfast. Bet you can't guess which one he is. 

I was going to go take my Book of Mormon test later that afternoon, but after I saw 300+ people I line I decided to go study more. I ended up studying for like 8 hours, just writing down my notes. Writing seems to be better than typing but now my hand hurts. Because it's finals week, fhe was not happening. It was a really long day. Oh and I'm getting sick. Here is what campus looks like at 6:30 in the morning. 

Tuesday

Turns out I had to go to work. I was told that I was going to work an easy day of kettle corn and it turned out to be a massive order of caramel popcorn that takes way longer. So I got off work two and half hours later than I had planned. I was also planning on meeting my family at temple square that night and surprising them. It was great so I had to run and get cash to ride the bus, ran to the bus, but the bus driver said he was going to be late for the train and I should just sit down now. So free bus ride. He drove like crazy to catch the bus. Ran a few stops signs and a red light, it was great. The train was just about to pull away when we pulled in and all the attendants were getting on and I ran and got on the train seriously seconds before it was goin to leave. Talk about perfect timing. I also heard this quote in my Book of Mormon class that said "great faith and anxiety often leads to revelation". I had many fervent prayers as I ran to the stations and be on time to surprise my family. After the train ride, I got off the train at the north temple station. Dad's office building was just a few blocks away and my mom texted me that they were outside his building with minutes to spare. I ran full speed from the station to dad's office and made it just in time. I saw the kids in the van as I was rounding the corner to his office and ducked behind a sign, pulled my hood up, and snuck around like a ninja to catch dad as he was leaving. Absolutely perfect timing. Then we all met with Papa Ray and Russell at the food court in City Creek. After that we went and enjoyed the lights at temple square. 

My family dropped me off with Gam and I spent the night at her house. It was excellent for my mental health. I got to be in a place where I know people love me. I know my roommates love me, but it's different when it's people that love you unconditionally. I was able to do a little studying for my geology test and just be in a calm and peaceful environment. It was wonderful. Plus I got to surprise my family and I think they were pretty happy about it. 

Wednesday

Today was scheduled to be my craziest day. I had my geology final scheduled at 11 in the afternoon, I was planning on taking my Book of Mormon final, and had to turn in a massive paper (with a bunch of alterations from my original) for anthropology by 5. Gam was incredibly nice and drove me back to school this morning. I had the perfect amount of time to go over my geology notes again before I had to take the test. I was right on time for my test and I think it went okay. Science just isn't my thing. It's interesting but it's just not my thing. Half of the test questions were about paleontology and grasses. I at least knew the answer to a few of them of, was pretty sure about most of it, but was totally lost on a few. I made all the revisions necessary to my paper and we'll see how it goes. The TA that grades my papers does not like my writing style and said the way I formatted my paper was too complex for the rubric and couldn't have been graded accurately. I still don't understand what she means by that but whatever. It's all turned in so I'm done. After I turned it in I wen to the Wilk to take my Book of Mormon test. On Monday there was a massive line but I was able to walk right in and take it. I studied for a long time on Monday and was feeling good about the test. It took me less than 20 minutes and I was feeling really good about it. I studied and prayed for help a lot and it paid off. I got an 88%. On the midterm, the class average was in the low 70's so this was pretty good. There are still a few things to be graded, but my grades really aren't that bad. If I figured it out right, I should get solid B's. Not bad for a first semester at a tough school. After my tests I went to see if it was possible to rent Guardians of the Galaxy from the tech store. It was indeed available so I picked that up, then I called my best friend Kaitlyn and we went to grab a pizza to enjoy with the movie. It was great. Later this evening I had to go visiting teaching to a few girls on my floor. It was a long day. I didn't fully realize how stressed I was until I finished my work. Only have history left and that's not until Friday afternoon. 

Rest of the week

For Thursday I don't really have anything planned. I have my cleaning check but not until like 9 that night. I'll study for my history test, but all I've got going on. I'm really getting sick so I'll probably just take it easy. 

For those of you who check my blog but have not had the chance to experience finals week, let me show you a few pictures to help you understand the stress and frustration that accompany finals week and the ending of a semester.

 

The lovely miss Jennifer Lawrence gets it.

 You think this is a joke? It isn't...

It isn't quite this bad, but not easy. 

Yes. 

Full 40 minutes. Sounds about right. 

Elsa knows what's up

All professors be like... 

Yeah so that's finals week. I'll come home Friday afternoon when I finish my history final. So excited to be done. Christmas break is going to be the best two weeks ever. 

Finals week is almost here...

So I have been hearing that finals week always sucks, but since this is my first finals week, I wasn't sure what to expect. Some of my finals are really going to suck but others won't be that bad.
For Anthropology I have a 10 page paper to write that is supposed to incorporate everything we have learned so far. All the movies, books, articles, and other assignments we have done. That is going to be a beast. It's worth 20% of my overall grade and I'm not too optimistic about it. We don't have anything scheduled because we just have to turn the paper in.
Geology is going to be another monster. We have moved really quickly through the last bit of material and I don't think I'll do that well. There are two review sessions scheduled, one with the teacher and another with the TA, plus the extra studying I'll be doing on my own. I'm also not very confident about this one. It is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 and is about 75 questions.
History is pretty much the only thing I am confident about. I understand things pretty well and I think it will go over well. On the midterm my score was higher than the class average and I got a really good score on the term paper we had to write. That one isn't scheduled until Friday afternoon. This really sucks because we were originally told that we would be able to go take it whenever we wanted and now we have to wait. So instead of going home on Wednesday night like I planned, I have to stay here until Friday evening then go home. Not happy.
My final for Book of Mormon is not going to be pretty. I really don't like the teaching style that the teacher has. He flies through the material so fast that no one knows what's going on. He spends the first half of class on the scriptures that we are tested on. He spends the second half on a "focus text" that our assignments are on. I would rather they were on the same thing but no. The tests really aren't on the scriptures either. While teaching, he will highlight a phrase in a verse and pull up a quote or a cross reference to that scripture. We are tested on the cross references and quotes. Not things like "Nephi was commanded to do x so he said y" but more like "Elder x said y about z verses" and you have to pick the right parts of the quote that relates to the scripture. The quote won't even mention the part in the scriptures, but it will focus on a principle that is mentioned and a general authority had a thought on it. So frustrating.
Writing 150 won't be hard. For our final we have a group project to do. Ever heard of TED talks? I hate them but we have to make one and deliver it to the class. Stupid. He didn't even give us a direction, just said "make a TED talk". On my issues paper that I recently turned in, things didn't go so well. I spent over 2 weeks on that paper, had about 8 people go over it and review it, emailed several drafts to the teacher, followed his comments and made the changes he wanted and continued to send him the drafts, but it didn't matter. I got a 240/300. That is the lowest grade in the class. On my Rhetorical Analysis paper, I also got the lowest grade in the class. I'm ready to wring his skinny little neck. He is a graduate student, not an actual teacher. BYU thought it would be a good idea to have the graduate students teach the writing classes. Classes that we are required to take. I just don't know how to win with this guy. He gives me a prompt, I clear everything I want to do with him, check in with him constantly and he says I'm doing great, but rips my paper to pieces. I think he just does't like me. I had tons of people review both papers and they all said it was very well written. Today I went back to a few of those people and asked that if they had graded what they would have given me. Most said a B+ or A-. Not a B-, the lowest grade in the class. Oh that one assignment was worth 30% of my grade by the way. I'm not freaking out all, I certainly don't want to freak out on my teacher and ask him what his problem is, I would never... not even going to finish that... Let's just say I hate him.
Yeah so those are my finals. Super exciting right?

I have a bunch of friends out on missions right now. Darick is in southern California and has about 7 months left. I really miss him. He'll come back in July and hopefully get to come to BYU. Two of my best friends, Jordan and Jessica are also just out. Jordan went to Canada speaking Mandarin and left about 5 months ago. Jordan and I email back and forth a lot on Mondays and it's great hearing from him. My other friend, Jessica, left for Rancagua, Chile almost 2 months ago. She's been running a blog and is so happy. I haven't emailed her much. I know she has a ton of people sending her emails so I will just write letters. I miss all my missionaries. Jessica has been a close friend of mine for about 5 years now. Jordan and I have been really good friends for about 3 years. Darick and I dated for a really long time and will start dating again when he gets back. I miss them. They are all doing well but could always do with some extra prayers.

Here's what I did today...

I got up and went to class. I'm sick and really didn't want to go. After class I had to go to work. They told me I was just going to make caramel popcorn and bag some ingredients to make it at another location. Super easy. I made the popcorn and started to bag the ingredients. I was quietly working away. I was on track to finish about 45 minutes earlier than normal. Most of the people leave around 6 so I thought everything would be normal. WRONG. SO FREAKING WRONG. By 4:30ish I looked out in the hallway and noticed it was a little darker than normal. Didn't think much of it. I finished all my work by 5 and was ready to go clock out. The station to clock in and out is right in the doorway to the office where all the managers work. Apparently they all finished 2 hours earlier than normal. They all left. Locked all the gates and doors. No way to get out. I WAS LOCKED IN THE FOOTBALL STADIUM WITH NO WAY OUT. If this doesn't cause some sort of panic attack in just about anyone, I'd be shocked. That place is freaking huge and I was locked in. All the entrances are covered by 10ft tall metal fences locked shut with padlocks. No escape. This is my second worst nightmare ever, is being left behind in a huge place. Being left alone is golden but being left behind is horrible. So there I was in a giant stadium all alone. Dark, no lights, windy, echoes from my footsteps. Not fun. I tried calling the manager I had a number for but they didn't answer. So I called the police. 

Dispatch- "BYU police what is your emergency?"

Me- "Yes hello officer. I'm locked in the football stadium."

Dispatch- "Please hold"

Me- "..."

Dispatch- "Miss can you please tell us again what your emergency is?"

Me- "I work at the football stadium, everyone left earlier than expected, and I'm locked in with no way out"

After this wonderful phone call, the lady officer tried to tell me that many of the officers were just about to get off duty and she'd try to send someone out as soon as possible. Seriously? You are the police. Come help me dang it. I stood outside by the gate they told me to go and waited for 15-20 minutes until someone came. Then the cop gets out, leisurely walks over to the gate, and questions me on why I am even in there. Are you kidding me? 1. This is byu, I'm a good person 2. If I was going to steal or vandalize anything I would not have called the cops to help me get out 3. I told you guys earlier that I work here and everyone left 4. It's freezing outside, unlock this gate for me so I can get the heck home. I'm so mad that my managers forgot about me. It probably was an accident, but for 3 of them to leave and not even check the building? Make sure everyone else left? It's rude. I didn't want to go to work and I'm sick. Then I get left behind and have to call the police. What the heck...

So that's how my day went... Time to get ready for finals. 

Cousins came to visit!

Gam, Tucker, Jamie, and the girls all came to visit me Tuesday before I went home. It was great to see them again! I showed them around my apartment and a few places around campus. We stopped at the Creamery on Ninth for lunch. 

After the visit we all headed back to Gam's for dinner and games. It was a great way to start my Thanksgiving break!

I need my Saturdays back

If I am not working, I am doing a truck load of homework. Never fun. I've spent the last two Saturday's freezing my tail off working at the football games. I asked for today's game off a month ago and that didn't happen. Less than thrilled by this. 

Had to be there early and stay a little after the game. Not sure exactly how it finished because I don't get to watch anything, but last I heard it was 51-0 for byu. The team we played hasn't won a game all season. Feel bad for them. 

I had I work in a signature stand on the south side of the stadium. This means that the rain could reach me at times and it was one giant wind tunnel. 

I hate the stupid wind. I also hate that byu does not believe that caffeine can be a nice thing to have. It's like a prohibition for caffeine here. 

On the bright side I started my last countdown today! Mockingjay part 2 is only a year away!

Now I'm home, watching LOST, avoiding doing anything productive. 

MOCKINGJAY IS HERE AT LAST

I'm sitting in the theater now for Mockingjay!

I'll send a review when I calm down. 

Lost in the library

All I wanted to do was find a book. I looked up the title, authors, and call number for the book. Had everything I needed. It took me about 10 minutes to even find the right floor that it was on. Then there were so many shelves, rows and rows of books. It took me about 25 minutes to find what I was looking for. 

When I did find what I was looking for, I was quite pleased. I was looking for a geology book by Lehi Hintze. Turns out we are related. Finally found the book and there was something special about it. Lehi Hintze wrote in it himself!

It's kind of freaky getting lost in the library. So many places to get confused and turned around, plus you are underground. 

Mockingjay

Obviously I have my priorities straight

Mockingjay

I just bought the Mockingjay soundtrack and it's freaking amazing. I love the hunger games!!

Sorry

Okay I'm really bad at blogging. Rather than working on stories and recapping things, I'm going to start trying short posts and comments as they happen. 

Here's what's been going on:

Mockingjay comes out in a few days, I couldn't be happier. 

Malsue came for a visit and spent the night, we had a great time

We built a fort in the living room

Mockingjay is not too far away now and I've got plans to watch it for several hours. 

It started to snow and people are freaking out. Some are excited, the southerners are hating it already. When we had some snow stick, some kids built this on a bench by the library. 

My classes are going fine, but I always have a lot of homework to do. 

My job making the "Cougar Crunch" is fine but I really hate making kettle corn and I'm pretty much constantly afraid of being burned while I make it. I've already been burned many times and have some lovely scars forming. Making the caramel popcorn is fun as long as I don't drop the boiling water on myself again. I really hate burns. They are the worst kind of pain because they keep hurting. 

Mockingjay comes out in a few days I'm super excited for that. 

I signed up for classes next semester and they mostly include things that will lead me to jobs in the national parks. I am highly considering doing a summer internship in Yellowstone. The most fun part would be the training; hand tools, carpentry, trail maintenance, defensive driving, chainsaws, and BEAR training. Sounds like fantasy camp to me, and I'd be getting paid so that's even better. 

Oh hey Mockingjay comes out on Thursday and I'm super excited.  

Weekend with roommates

Even though we all live together, me and my roommates don't do that much together. Our schedules are all different. This weekend we did lots of stuff together. 

On Saturday we went shopping. We went to target first. While we were there I met Jeremy from Studio C!!!!

It was pretty great!

After target we went to Walgreens. Me and Alex had to work so we were dropped off. 

On Sunday Liberty suggested we all take a personality test. My results were INTP. The results were so accurate it was scary. The best way to sum up the results it gave me is this: I work better alone and away from others, I am an intellectual who does not care for social things, I best communicate with others through sarcasm, and it compared me to Socrates, president Eisenhower, Abe Lincoln, and a few other philosophers. Very interesting stuff. 

www.16personalities.com

Rock Canyon

On Saturday I have a geology field trip to go up Rock Canyon. Not totally sure what we'll be doing, but I thought I might as well figure out where the place is. I looked out at the mountains where I could see the mouth of a canyon. Figured that was a good place to start. I drove over there and it turned out that it was Rock Canyon, hiking trails and all. My roommates were all busy with one thing or another so I got Jenna to go with me. She loves photography so she brought her camera and took tons of pictures.

American Authors

The concert me and Malsue went to last night was amazing!
After the long adventure to get home, me and Mallory drove to downtown SLC last night to see American Authors, Echosmith, and the Mowgli's in concert. Good thing dad bought us tickets early because the show sold out!
Echosmith was really cool to see. Their big hit is "cool kids" that's been on the radio for a while now. They have a lot of other really good songs and I just might get the rest of the album. I listen to music at least 4 hours a day while I'm working on homework, at work, walking around campus, or just sitting in my room. Anyways, Echosmith did a great job and we got to take pictures with them after the concert had ended. Bummer part is that the picture is not the best of quality.

The highlight of the show was of course American Authors. I started listening to their music last summer when they just had "Best Day of My Life" out and listened to it all senior year. Towards the end of senior year, more people started to hear it and were like, "hey have you heard this song?" and I was like "dude that came out months ago where have you been?" Anyways, the rest of their album, "Oh What a Life" came out in march and I freaking love it. I have Malsue listen to all the music I get and she loves it to. We have been listening to the album all summer long. We know the lyrics to every song, and will shamelessly belt it out while doing intense kitchen dancing. Dad told me that they were going to be in concert a few weeks ago and I was so excited! I called Malsue and we decided that we wanted to go for sure. Dad picked up the tickets for us a few days ago and we met him outside The Depot to go enjoy the show. It was amazing! We were also able to take a picture with them afterwards but I haven't been able to find the picture yet.

Adventures

For whatever reason, I feel like an adventurer today. Me and Malsue are going to see American Authors in concert tonight. My jeep is back home, but I am in provo because I had class and work. By the way, my new job is making popcorn. I make all the caramel popcorn and kettle corn that byu sells. It's great! Anyways, I was able to leave work early this afternoon. I wasn't really by a bus stop and I didn't have any cash. I took my super cool backpack that I love so much and headed out. I walked about a mile from the stadium to walmart to get cash. I then ran across the highway to catch the bus. I rode the bus to the FrontRunner station. I am currently on the train. I will ride this train until I reach North Temple, then I will ride Trax to the airport where my mom will pick me up if she gets my texts that I'm on my way a little early. After I get home, me and Malsue are driving to the gateway to see American Authors at The Depot. It's crazy but I love it. I love going on adventures. I smell like caramel popcorn, I have a backpack that was really built for adventures, I have cool black shoes and my shirt even matches. Really have it all together today.