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.