Whooo-ee

A tip for all students everywhere: never, ever, get anything below a C. I know a lot of students don't generally care about their GPA (highschool and lower especially) but in college a C- or below will significantly impact your numbers. I just corrected a class I had previously received a D in (music theory 3) and the second time around was able to obtain a B-. That turn around, as well as a cluster of very good grades this semester, raised me from a 2.71 to a 3.21.
So, for those of you sitting on the fence of retaking classes you had previously not done so well in, don't hesitate on it. Eventually you will more likely than not need to increase your GPA for grad schools or professional careers, and in the last year it's too late. Remember: you have to submit transcripts to schools and places well in advance of attendance so they can accept or decline you with time to spare.
Short and sweet, now, to buy laundry detergent!

Done!

Is there no better feeling for the average college student than to finally put your pencil down after the last test at the end of another grueling semester? Well, perhaps the celebratory beer and pizza the evening after finals week is over... but really, it is always an accomplishment to finish out another semester. Even before grades are posted, and even if one does not do as well as hoped, it comes as a major undertaking for coming to the end, gaining more intelligence, and getting one step closer to a hopeful goal.
This is my fifth year of college, I've been a junior in two undergraduate programs, and I am ready to move on with my life. However, instead of counting down the minutes I prefer to keep busy so the time flies. Now I am three semesters away from my undergraduate degree, and anxious. It is becoming more and more taxing to keep going, and just not throw in the towel. For that reason, every semester I successfully completed is one tippy-toe nudge closer to my degree. That stupid, flimsy, easily printed, piece of paper, is my main reason for just staying at my current state in life.
So to all lower classman, and burned out upper classroom, hang in there, you are closer now than you have ever been, and you will only continue to get closer.

Finals!

It is now finals time in college. That special time that happens only twice a year where students are on edge (even more so than normal coffee/energy drink offcianados) because we are all attempting to pretend we learned something in our classes.

Really though, how much of what we test on do we honestly remember? I don't do well when it comes to taking tests in most subjects, but I do retain a lot of information proving that I actually learn. Just when it comes to tests I have test anxiety, and that really doesn't do well with grades.

Anyways, enough rambling, this is just a really hectic couple of weeks, and everyone is just a little more crabby than usual. Just remember-grades are just a means to an end, and that in the long run, after you get a job and are an adult in "The Real World" it is more about what you learned in your college experiences, rather than how you were graded. That knowledge alone keeps me plugging through the runs of society.

So chin up! This (college thing) too will pass!

Cheese Nips and Verdi

So it has come to my attention that with the successful completion of my current essay for Opera Literature, I will have written 12 pages on one composer and two of his operas. Why does this strike me you may ask? Because I didn't honestly think I would ever have more than a couple pages worth of material to really talk about ANY musician and his life and works, let alone the rudimentary startings of a book.

Now back to finishing said essay.

Nabucco by Verdi. go check it out.