Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy
Okay, so I normally try my very hardest not to brag. I really hate it when other people do it, especially about grades. That being said, I might brag just a tiny bit, and my apology is here. Sorry.
The quarter ended for me on Wednesday afternoon with the completion of my A&P exam. And, oh, what a wonderful quarter it has been. Part of the reason it's been so great has been my grades. [Here comes the bragging]. After a VERY shaky start in my microbiology class, I decided to shape up and after getting a 65 on the first test, I came away with a 93 on the second. The micro lab was a different story, and I was never very confident about my grade in there, luckily it is just added to the lecture grade, and isn't worth as much as the tests. After getting an 85 on the lecture final and a [debatable] 81 on the lab final, I've come away with a B, according to my figuring. Five weeks into the quarter, I was thinking about how if I didn't get a C in the class, I'd have to wait an entire year before I could move on with any of my classes. And somehow I came away with a B. And without any curve at all. It's amazing what a little hard work and studying can do. And I believe flash cards can work miracles.
Next, we come to anatomy and physiology, the third part in the series. Last winter I did very well, and got an A. Then last spring I kinda lost my mind and got lazy with school and barely made it with a B. This quarter, I decided to do well. I would print out the notes before we covered them in class, and I'd pay attention, and I'd study more than just a couple hours before the test. Now, while I didn't really pay that much more attention in class, I did study more, and it really paid off for me. It helped that the systems we did this quarter [cardiovascular, respiratory, and others] were ones I found more interesting than those we did in the spring [the crazy nervous system for 3 freaking months], so this helped a lot. But still, the extra work I put in really paid off for me. I ended up with a 100 in lecture and an 87 in the lab, which will give me about a 97. And that is a damn good grade.
Now, obviously I am not the first person to realize what can be accomplished with a little work. But I must say, I'm a believer now. Studying works. And even though I don't really know how to do it, anything extra done will really help. All of the Sunday afternoons that I sat here watching the Bengals game and reading over notes did wonders for me. I can't imagine what would happen if I did it more than once a week and actually did it somewhere I wouldn't be distracted. However, I can't pin all of this success on hard work. In most cases, I was interested in the subject matter, and that's pretty much essential to be able to learn anything well. I don't know how I would have learned 100+ bacteria and the diseases they cause if I didn't want to know them. I liked learning about A&P. I heart the cardiovascular system. [No pun intended, but that is hella funny.] Now, I did well in my other classes too, but not really as the result of studying much, moreso just because I went to class and the tests were easy. Because of this, I don't see much point in discussing them.
I don't know what it's been, but it isn't just my grades that have made me so happy. There's been something else all quarter that has kept me quite content, and I am quite in the dark as to what it is. It may just be that I'm happy to be back at school after being out all summer. [I could talk about how I miss my classes after they end, but Lauren says it's weird.] I swear, I've been downright jubilant. And now that the Christmas season is upon us, this demeanor has only been magnified. This isn't to say that I haven't had one or two episodes of unhappiness, because I have. Putting out our Christmas decorations kinda got me down because I really started missing my Norwood house. And I'm sure there were other instances where I felt lonely or sad. But they were few and far between, and very short lived. I mean, I was sick two out of the last three weeks, yet it did nothing to dampen my mood. I really can't explain it. I'm just so full of joy and happiness, I can only hope that I don't crash after Christmas and then feel awful for the rest of the winter. I don't think it'll happen though. I won't let it. If only I can figure out what it is. There's nothing in particular that is making me happy really, although I am getting more and more excited about nursing school. The further in I go, the more I love it. We had an orientation a few weeks ago and I just kept thinking, "I am totally cut out for this." I really enjoy it. AND I bought my first pair of nursing shoes. Very pleasing, even if I won't be wearing them until spring quarter. I'm very excited about winter quarter because we'll be actually learning and practicing procedures. All of my classes will be nursing based. And while I think I will miss the west campus a little bit, [there's really nowhere good to get food on east campus, aside from hospital food courts (particularly Children's) and those are WAY out of the way] I think being surrounded by nursing only curriculum will more than make up for that. And I'm not going to have to worry about parking behind that crazy frat house, which is good, because I feel like I was slowly being ousted from there anyway. Anyway, back to my perpetual satisfaction with life. It's great.
I think it's just Christmas, and especially the Christmas music doing it to me, but I've really felt like going to church lately. I mean, I've gone every Sunday for a quite a while now, but out of nowhere I keep feeling like going. I don't really know what it is that I want to do there. I just want to go. It's kind of a nice feeling really, and it just goes along with my 3 month long wonderful mood. I mean, how can you hear "Mild He lays His glory by/ Born that man no more may die" and not be touched? Okay, so I understand that plenty of you read that and think nothing. But it affects me, as does any similar lyric.
Just a few more things:
The BP that I frequent has had gas at $1.68 for at least a week now = awesome.
I don't usually like chocolate, but my dad brought home this huge basket of snacks that someone gave him at work, and in it were dark chocolate [if I'm going to eat chocolate, it needs to be dark] covered gingerbread. And, oh man, I'm hooked. Unluckily, there were only like six pieces in the bag, so now I'd like to find it somewhere else. It's really good though. The layer of chocolate is really thin, and the bittersweet taste offsets the spice in the gingerbread nicely. It also helps that I'm a sucker for gingerbread.
And now, I'm going to go warm up some leftover turkey. This has been a very un-Sally like entry. I hope you've enjoyed it.