Lucky Number 13: A Year in Review

As 2013 finally comes to a close I want to take some time to reflect on this crazy, crazy year. I was busier than ever with classes, jobs, law school prep, extracurricular activities (Phi Alpha Delta never fails to take over my life), research, boys, traveling, and my semblance of a social life.

The Highs:

1. Studying abroad in Cairo for two weeks and witnessing the revolution/coup
2. Being elected to Phi Beta Kappa
3. Participating in the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs at West Point
4. Serving as Public Relations Chair for my fraternity and coordinating our most successful fall rush in years
5. Managing to get straight As while taking 24 units
6. Welcoming two amazing new little siblings to my fraternity family (as well as new grandlittles, great-grandlittles, and my first great-great-grandlittle!)
7. My new position as the International Relations peer advisor and new duties as a house manager for Mondavi
8. Turning 21 and learning that yes, you can stay classy while drinking... 95% of the time

Probably the highlight of my life - camel ride by the Pyramids

Visiting the Sultan Hassan mosque in Cairo

Spring Banquet with my lovely pre-fall family

My third little, Nicole - she's the cutest!!!

My fourth little, Fredrick - he's the biggest disappointment and also my favorite (shhh)

But at least he can rock a bowtie!

The Lows:

1. My apartment burned down and I was not compensated for my lost items... can't really get much lower than this
2. Three disheartening LSAT scores
3. Getting the flu twice and at the worst possible moments (during February midterm season and just days before the LSAT, and right before I was supposed to go to Cabo with my then-boyfriend)
4. Not finishing either honors thesis by the end of fall quarter
5. Disappointing myself academically in spring and fall, after a surprisingly stellar winter quarter
6. Sinking into a downward spiral these past two months and realizing that I didn't really know who I was anymore

   

   Not a "low" photo... but look how happy I was in 2011!

The year is ending on a mostly positive note. I've spent the past two days working on my personal statement (finally, right?!) and I'm really happy with how it's turning out. I'll be ready to submit my first batch of applications tomorrow to Penn, Duke, Georgetown, and NYU. (More schools coming up later this week - I haven't forgotten about Berkeley, Stanford, and Michigan!) I'm turning applications in nearly two months later than I had intended, but I think I needed to take this time to lose myself, find myself, and affirm that I really do want to go to law school next fall instead of taking a year off.

Although my winter break to-do list hasn't gotten much shorter over the past few days, I'm feeling rested (if sick - I came down with a cold yesterday!) and empowered to take on winter quarter. We'll see how long that lasts, but for now... 2014, I'm ready for you!

Home for the Holidays

I'm writing this post instead of finishing up my law school personal statement. You can tell that I really have my priorities in order right now... not!
 
I've been using this break more to relax and de-stress than to catch up on the million things I'm behind on. At the very least, though, I feel like I'm a little bit better equipped to handle winter quarter - or at least I will be if I can get some law school apps submitted this week! (Literally the only thing I have left to do for my apps is finishing my personal statement, which has been a major roadblock for me the past five months.)
 
Some highlights from my winter break:
*Seeing my friends from home again, including going out for a 21st birthday and then heading up to Windsor for a wine country getaway a week later
*Lots of family time, especially getting to see everyone for Christmas
*A few lazy days in bed reading books - Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, Autumn Bones by Jacqueline Carey, and Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (all three are new releases by some of my favorite authors)
*Spending way too much time looking up possibilities for a post-grad Europe trip next summer
*Great gifts, ranging from pearl earrings from my parents (that match a necklace I inherited from my grandma) to an emergency phone case from my brother (since my year-old original case from last Christmas finally died on me this month - at least my phone is still in mint condition!)
  
I'm sad that winter break is almost over. I still have a week left until the new academic quarter starts, but the stress is starting to kick back in and I know that it's crunch time. I really need to tackle things on my to-do list so that I can start the quarter with a (mostly) clean slate, instead of letting the mess from fall quarter continue to follow me around. However, as much as I need the next week to slow down so that I can get everything done, I'm still ecstatic to have a fresh start in 2014, with amazing travel opportunities and my 1L year of law school ahead!

Survival and Self-Discovery

Nine months ago, I was proudly able to say that I took what life threw at me and I thrived. Right now, all I can honestly say is that I've survived.

I've survived a quarter filled with too many obstacles, too much to do, too much stress, too many breakdowns, too much heartache, and too much at stake! I really can't say that I thrived. My grades didn't tank (thank goodness) but it's definitely an A- kind of quarter instead of an A/A+ one. This is a quarter when I had to say, "I give up, I can't handle this," far too many times. Instead of tackling problems head on, my workload and stress level got to the point where I had to keep pushing things off, hoping that Future Christine would be able to handle them. (News flash: she couldn't either, a lot of the time.)

Looking back on the past couple of months, I can say that I've done plenty of things I'm not happy with and only a few that I can truly take pride in. Some of these things may come to define me, since that's something I've realized over the past two weeks: I am who I am, but that person keeps on changing. I halfheartedly told a friend this weekend that I always just kept pushing onwards towards my goals and ignored personal development, hoping that inner growth would just happen on its on. To some extent it has, and I'm happy with the person I became in my first three years of college, but all those years of ignoring my personal development finally caught up to me. I'm finally at a point in my life that is not just a crossroads academically (with my law school apps and theses), but a crossroads personally. Like it or not, I've realized that I don't know who I am anymore because I'm at one of those points in life where my decisions, actions, and beliefs every single day will shape who I become in the next stage of my life. It's terrifying trying to figure out who you are and shape your character at the same time. I know that I have to take the next few weeks to discover who I am right now and who I want to become... because to be honest, I really don't know. And of course, while I figure that out I'll be trying to finally finish and submit those law school applications and honors theses.

Other than that... happy holidays to all of my readers, Merry Christmas, and I hope you're enjoying the last bit of 2013! Here's to hoping that 2014 will be productive, inspirational, and not quite as life-changing as this past year has been!

All Fall Quarter Did Was Wreeeeeck Me!

I find it ironic that my last post was about how successful fall quarter of senior year was going! Let's just say that everything has changed now.

1. Honors theses: postponed until winter. I decided to take an incomplete on the International Relations one after a bad breakdown, and I'll use winter break and January to finish it up. My psychology study actually went very well, but I already knew that I wanted to use the beginning of winter quarter to write it up anyway.
2. Law school apps? Not submitted yet. After a shocking yet consistent LSAT score, I haven't felt motivated to work on applications in over a month. Part of me postponing my theses is to get my essays done this week!
3. Classes: better now, but not going great for a while. Thank goodness I'm taking Arabic pass/no pass... I spent last week throwing everything I had into my Cognitive Neuroscience course, so after a fantastic paper on the neural source for altruism and a decent midterm exam, I'm in good shape to get an A- or better in the class. I'm not doing as well in U.S. History as I would like, but I should still be able to get an A in the class.
4. My life in general = absolute roller coaster. I ended a long-term relationship at the end of October (which had been a long time in coming) and then spent November with a much-too-exciting love life that had way too much heartache for my taste. Plenty of ups, even more downs. I don't know how long it will be until I can tell what's come out of the past several weeks, but at the very least I can say that I have a new-found appreciation for Taylor Swift. "Red" is the anthem of the quarter for me, and this amazing cover of Miley's "Wrecking Ball" has been playing nonstop the past month for me as well.

There have been some amazing highlights to fall quarter. My trip to West Point was incredible and I loved being surrounded by other driven, like-minded students. Everyone on my roundtable group spoke Arabic, studied abroad in the Middle East, and had great insight for challenges that today's populations face over there! Another highlight is my fraternity - I have four new additions my line and I've loved getting to know all the new members this quarter. I've also been able to spend a lot of time with biological family lately, which I really appreciate considering that I might be on the East Coast for law school in just nine months.

However, despite the highlights, fall quarter really took a toll on me... Even with a more relaxed finals week than usual, it will take a lot of rest and relaxation over the next few weeks before I'm back to being my normal, overachieving self.

Surprisingly Successful Senior Year

The past few weeks have been overwhelming, but in a good kind of way!
 
1. My pre-law fraternity had a really successful fall rush - the largest turnout we've seen in over four years - and we've taken in some great new members that I'm super excited about. My PAD family will be growing a lot this quarter! I'm ecstatic to see that all my hard work over the past few months paid off.
 
2. I was invited to the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA). It's a very prestigious conference held at West Point every year, and the UC Davis International Relations Program is paying to send me there next week. Impromptu New York trip! I've been going crazy over the past couple of weeks trying to figure out travel, clothes, and my schedule (since I'm missing three days of class and almost a week of work), but it seems like everything is starting to come together. I'm both thrilled and nervous to be flying out next Tuesday night!

3. Law school apps. Oh my goodness, law school apps. I'm not even close to having a finished personal statement yet - oops - so I really need to get that taken care of soon, preferably before my October LSAT score comes out next Wednesday. However, this application season is off to a fantastic start because of all of the fee waivers I've been blessed with. As of today, I have fee waivers from UPenn, Michigan, Duke (priority track!), Northwestern, Georgetown, and UCLA among other schools. After I get my October score back, I'll likely have a few more trickle in and will then email schools to request a waiver.

I went to my school's Law School Info Day last Thursday and had great conversations with a lot of admissions staff. I walked out with six different business cards and email addresses, but somehow no new fee waivers! Oh well. With Penn, Duke, Michigan, and Georgetown, who needs waivers from other schools? (Just kidding. I would love more fee waivers. Even with all of the waived fees, I'll still probably spend over $1000 on law school applications!)
 
4. Classes and honors theses are also rather overwhelming, and not necessarily in a good way. I dropped my Ancient History class so I'm down to 19 units right now. Cognitive Neuroscience is a struggle and I'm not at all pleased with my performance on the first midterm. I'm doing really well in my U.S. History class though - I got an A on my first paper even though I wrote the paper at the absolute last minute. Next week's midterm for that class should hopefully go well! Advanced Arabic is a struggle but I'm learning a lot, and I'm debating going onto ARB 122 next quarter so that I don't have to stop learning the language. We'll see!

My honors theses are making my life a struggle. It'll be extremely tough to finish my IR thesis, PSC thesis, and get law school apps in this quarter. Hopefully I keep my sanity!

LSAT = Conquered

Okay, the title is overly optimistic. But I'm at least confident that my score didn't drop from June. ;)

Some highlights from today:
1. I started off with my strongest section, nailed it, then spent the next few sections freaking out that it had been experimental. Luckily it was real.
2. While in line to check in, I definitely tried to recruit someone to join Phi Alpha Delta. A Public Relations Chair does not take time off for such a silly excuse as the Law School Admission Test!
3. After I finished the writing sample (almost 20 minutes early, although I'm still satisfied with the argument I made), I wrote some pre-law haikus to pass the time. Here's what I can remember of them.

A 170

Is all I need for UPenn

But will I get it?

 

Duke, Georgetown, Stanford

Where will I go to next fall?

Where will I get in?

  

Phi Alpha Delta

Professional, fraternal

Is the one for me!

 

Tick, tock goes the clock

As I hurry through my test

Oh no! Time is up!

Disclaimer: I know they're really, really bad. Hopefully that doesn't diminish your entertainment. And I wrote this on my scratch paper, not on the actual writing sample! I don't know if law schools would have approved.

I don't get to rest after finishing the test and showcasing my poetic talents - I actually have to leave for work in about 20 minutes. But hopefully I can enjoy myself tonight before my fraternity's rush starts next week!

The Week From Hell

I thought I'd take a quick break from LSAT studying and PR stuff (let's be real, emailing potential rushees is a break for me nowadays) to say hi.

I'm alive. Barely. I'm pretty much working myself into the ground right now. I'm always either at work, in class, studying for the LSAT, lab managing, working on the pilot for my PSC honors thesis, scheduling meetings for my IR honors thesis, or doing PR stuff. I love how casually I just wrote that - "doing PR stuff." Public relations for my fraternity is kind of a nightmare right now. Coordinating tabling, chalking, flyering, and presentations for about 30 people is no fun, and I keep sending mass emails to members when I know the people I'm most concerned about won't even read them. I'm spending 25 hours a week just on public relations right now, and that's after I delegated to some of the other committee chairs. I'm trying not to be exhausted and miserable, but the perpetual bags under my eyes don't lie. And on top of this, I'm trying to make sure I'm in the right state of mind for Saturday's LSAT (read: not brain-dead).

But on the positive side...
1. I'm not sick right now! *knock on wood*
2. I found out that I got Tour Guide of the Month for May 2013, which I find funny since May is an absolute blur to me so I honestly can't remember giving any tours.
3. As of Saturday, I'm done with the LSAT for good.
4. Rush is next week, so I'm almost done with publicity. Maybe I can actually get some sleep soon...

It's Starting...

The fall quarter whirlwind is beginning and classes don't even start until Thursday! I helped out at the International Relations Fall Welcome this morning as part of my peer advisor job and saw a bunch of new students come into the office afterward for beginning-of-the-year advising. On the way home I gave two people directions and passed by an event teaching freshmen about bike safety and preventing bike theft (good luck with that - one of many reasons I don't have a bike here). There are events every night for Welcome Week to get new students pumped up about UC Davis. The campus is buzzing with activity and I can feel myself being drawn into the quarter more and more. I just wish I had time to relax a bit and enjoy the start of my favorite quarter of the year!

In addition to LSAT studying and stressing about apps/honors theses, I can feel my life being consumed by emails. Between the four accounts I have linked to my phone, I get easily 100 emails per day (and I know that will increase exponentially once school actually starts). I'm always reading emails, filing them away, drafting responses, copying over some version of the "Our rush week is coming up!" email to every pre-law student who signs up for my fraternity's mailing list... Thank goodness I have an iPhone, I honestly don't remember how I used to manage in the past when I couldn't check my email on the go. My boyfriend and I always joke that I'll be the young professional glued to my BlackBerry within the next few years. Note to self: get a BlackBerry! I love full keyboards and that's what I miss most about my old phone - perfect for emails, even if my old phone couldn't do that!

So besides my fascinating life as a professional emailer, I actually took yesterday afternoon/evening off from work/studying/PR prep to head to the Bay Area for my little's carnatic music concert. The music was unlike anything I'd ever heard before and I was blown away by my little - not only did she sound amazing, but she managed to sing for an hour and a half straight! I'm definitely a proud big right now (and the upside of having three littles is that I always have something to be proud about, since they're all incredible).

Okay, back to PR prep and LSAT studying...

Happy Autumn!

Happy autumn! Even though I love warm weather, I'm excited for Davis to start cooling down and for the leaves to change colors. Despite a surprise rainstorm yesterday, it's been a bit too hot lately and I'm definitely ready to bring out jeans and boots! I know I'll miss the warmth in a couple of months though.

Today my new housemate (or I guess I should say my housemate's fall subleasee) is moving in. I've been alone in the apartment for most of the summer so it will be nice to have some company again! The person I'll be living with for fall is someone I've known since sophomore year when we were resident advisors together, so I know it'll be a lot of fun living with her.

I can't believe the LSAT is in less than two weeks. Part of me is trying not to panic and wishing that I had 13 more weeks instead of 13 more days to study for my last retake attempt, but another part of me is just ready to be done and apply to law schools. So far I have fee waivers for Davis, UCLA, Georgetown, and Duke (!!!), as well as dozens of other schools that aren't on my application list. After I take the October LSAT I'll be writing essays and compiling applications as I wait for my score to come out, then inshallah I'll be able to submit my apps by the first week of November. I'm aiming to get everything in by Veteran's Day weekend!

In the meantime, as I study for the upcoming test and try to fool myself into thinking October 5th is farther away than it actually is, I'm still working my three jobs, lab managing, preparing for classes to start on Thursday, and getting ready for rush week. I feel like I'm putting a lot more time into my pre-law fraternity than into LSAT studying, to be honest - definitely not a good thing and the curse of being PR Chair. I've been doing so much lately (designing/ordering flyers, helping reserve rooms, ordering shirts, updating our social media, contacting potential rushees, etc.) and yet there's still so much more to be done. I seriously need a time turner right now...

In Four Weeks...

...my life will be a million times calmer.

The October LSAT is coming up in three weeks and two days (WHAT?! HOW?!). This is my absolute last shot before I apply to schools and I'm determined to knock it out of the park, but my work/extracurricular schedule has been so crazy lately that it's difficult to cram more study time in! I really envy the people that are only studying for the LSAT and aren't doing anything else this summer. Unfortunately, that just isn't me.

My pre-law fraternity's rush week is coming up soon as well. I've been diligently preparing since the beginning of July, but apparently it wasn't enough since everything needs to be done right now. Room reservation dilemma! Designing and ordering flyers! Getting quotes for our T-shirt order! Filming and editing our promotional video! Countless (okay fine, 45) emails to potential rushees! And trying to deal with a severely limited budget on top of all that... If I didn't like my oh-so-manageable hair so much, I'd be pulling it out right now. Oh well - in four weeks, rush week will have ended and the biggest part of my fall duties as Public Relations Chair will be finished.

Work is the only thing that won't be over by then, but it will at least be easier to deal with. Right now I'm trying to juggle peer advisor training, too many campus tours, and the occasional Mondavi show (three next week, ouch). Once school starts I'm cutting my tours way back so that I can mostly focus on peer advising and Mondavi shows, leaving me at 20 hours or less of work per week. Plus some unpaid lab managing time, which will also be easier once the quarter starts since I won't have to worry about interviewing/hiring/training our new research assistants (yet another task that's been consuming my life for the past few weeks).

Yet part of me is thinking, Yes, but what about school? Classes start in two weeks and I don't exactly have a light course load this quarter. Advanced Arabic, Ancient Mesopotamian History, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Post-WWII U.S. History... plus finishing up both my Psychology and International Relations honors theses. 23 units total. It's extremely naïve of me to think that my life will be calmer in four weeks when that's the exact point my classes will become more time-consuming. But still, I need to take life one step - or four weeks - at a time, so for now I'll just focus on getting through rush and the LSAT. Wish me luck!

End of Summer Woes

Quick edit: After writing this post, I started getting excited for my favorite season (autumn, obviously) so I thought I'd change the header and tweak my blog template a bit while I was at it!

I'm kind of in denial that it's the end of August already. Somehow I feel like the month just started! I'm guessing that being sick for a week explains my disbelief that the days "flu" by this fast, but I'm still not prepared for going back to school in September.

Despite the denial, I can tell that summer will be ending soon because of how my responsibilities have been ramping up lately. Although it would be wonderful to just sit in bed and read all day, that's not exactly feasible right now! The past week and a half I've been swamped with work - hiring new research assistants and completing an IRB renewal for my lab manager position, giving tours, staying at the Mondavi Center until 1:00am to finish counting out merchandise for a particularly crazy show (ouch), and training for my International Relations peer advisor position. I've also been working on law school apps, although to be honest I really need to devote all of my attention to studying for my October LSAT retake and should just focus on applications/essays once the test is over! And, because it's me, I've been spending a bit too much time planning out my class schedules for the year. Trying to figure out how to finish my two majors, minor, and last GE requirements while still taking a couple of fun classes is turning out to be tricky. I have six potential schedules lined up for winter and spring quarter... Normally planning is a stress reliever for me, but until I have the perfect schedule combination figured out it'll continue to be a headache. (I know... why can't I just wait until the week before my registration appointment to plan my class schedule like a normal student?)

I've still been managing to have some fun lately though: hanging out with my boyfriend, cat-sitting, online shopping, and plenty of reading (that I shouldn't technically have time for). Tomorrow hopefully I'll get out for a bit to take advantage of some Labor Day sales before diving back into work. September will be the month of juggling my jobs, preparing for fraternity rush week, studying for the LSAT, compiling law school apps, salvaging my honors theses, and naturally getting ready for fall quarter of my senior year! Hmm, another thing I'm in denial about... how am I a senior already?

Reflections

In preparation for my eight-year blog birthday coming up on Thursday (WOW!), I've spent the past hour reading old blog posts. I've changed so much in eight years, yet so much is the same. My observations:
 
1. My goodness, I was an angst-filled teenager! My eighth grade entries make me laugh and cringe.
2. I miss the days when I got 102% on every math test, I had time to read for pleasure during the school year, and my biggest concern was if what boy I was/wasn't crushing on did/didn't talk to me that week.
3. Even back as a high school freshman, I knew that every point mattered... a 92 was very different from a 97, even if both counted as an A back then!
4. My Spanish II teacher? Definitely showed up to class hungover once a week. That sophomore boy who scared me so much when I was a shy, impressionable freshman? He probably thought I was cute (which does explain his borderline sexual harassment). Oh, the things you see in hindsight...
5. On March 22, 2008, I said that I wanted to go to a "small, private, liberal arts college." Yet five years later, I'm happily attending a large public research university (and a science-oriented school at that)! Silly 16-year-old Christine.

Moving back to the present, the past several days have been enjoyable and relaxing. I was home for the weekend visiting family and got to see a couple of my friends from high school (the highlight was definitely dinner at a fancy steakhouse my friend works at, regrettably watching Elysium after dinner, and then heading back to the steakhouse for dessert after vowing we were too full to ever eat again). I drove back up to Davis on Sunday night in my "new car" (a 1996 Honda Accord, formerly my grandmother's, that I just bought off my parents) and got some work/errands done on Monday while waiting for my boyfriend to get back from Mexico. We saw The Wolverine together last night, which was thankfully much better than Elysium. Then again, Marvel can't really do wrong as far as I'm concerned!

I'll leave you with a few facts that my newest blog readers may not know...

1. I was a huge fan of roleplaying sites in 10th grade - probably a mix of my theater and writing passions! I even ran my own site for a bit one summer. (Jaedris, anyone?)
2. I started a fansite for a Swedish pop group as a 7th grader. Shout-out to Play!
3. I am the champion of ultimate hide-and-seek (also known as Counselor Hunt for day camp purposes). I once disguised myself as a bag of shirts and hid on top of an air vent. Quite successfully, I might add.

One fact that I'm sure all of my readers know? I love lists, as you can see from the above post.

Long Time No Post...

I can't believe it's been two months since I last blogged. You can read about my Egypt adventures at Summer in Misr, although unfortunately my summer abroad program was cut short due to the protests and I had to be evacuated (on the 4th of July, no less). I've spent the past month and a half going back and forth between home and my Davis apartment, with a mini vacation to Pismo Beach with my family thrown in. Lots of reading, campus tours, fraternity rush preparations, and law school application work!

I'm actually supposed to be sitting on a beach in Mexico right now, but I had the misfortune of getting the flu last Thursday and wasn't better in time to fly out. I'm finally recovered (after sleeping 14 hours per day for the last week) and back to work on lab managing/rush week prep. As a consolation prize, I'm using my Mexico plane ticket as either A) a winter break trip to Hawaii (hey, I can hope) or spring break ticket to the East Coast to tour whatever law schools I get into.

So, more about law school. After years of planning and dreaming, I can't believe it's finally time to apply! I'm actually studying for an October LSAT retake, which means I'm further behind on my personal statement than I would like, but all this means is that I'll be submitting my applications in the beginning of November once LSAT scores come in rather than the beginning of September when applications open up. I don't have a finalized school list yet, but I definitely plan to apply to Penn, Berkeley, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, and George Washington (among others).

Ahlan wa Sahlan, Summer

(Quick edit to add a link to my newly unveiled Egypt blog, Summer in Misr!)

I survived finals week, just turned my last paper in, and now it's finally summer break! Until next Monday at least, when I leave for my Egypt summer abroad program and classes begin again.

I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to survive finals week (or if I actually did, since part of me has been DEAD since Monday's LSAT). My brain was too fried to study for finals and I kept reading the same thing over and over without retaining anything. My Econ final was seriously the worst exam I've taken in my life and my final grade in the class definitely reflects that... ouch. Arabic was pretty miserable too but I'm counting on my quizzes/midterms and extra credit performance to save me. Cognitive Development actually went very well, considering how similar the final was to the two midterms we took! I'm still waiting on my final Arabic/Psych grades (and I won't get grades for my two honors theses until the end of fall), but Arabic and Cognitive Development should be an A+/A so I shouldn't have to worry too much.

It's a good thing I'm keeping busy for the next few weeks, since the wait for LSAT scores is keeping me on edge. I can't even count the number of breakdowns I've had this week over the LSAT and finals, even though in the end I know I will end up at a great law school. It'll be nice to get my score back, since even if it's not what I'm hoping for, I can at least cut my losses and create the final list of schools that I'm applying to. For now, all I know is that I'm applying to Stanford (long shot), Penn, Berkeley, Georgetown, UCLA, and George Washington. Likely Duke as well, plus a few more T-14 schools. And hey, UC Davis/Boston University/University of Washington may make the final list as well (since I know I'd be happy at any of them and I need to add a few more safety schools)! But anyway, my list won't be set for about another month and I'll likely apply to any T-20 school that gives me a fee waiver.

Alright, time to embrace summer... Hello long wait for my LSAT score, hello EGYPT! Welcome, bad Toms tan lines and book-a-day reading sprees. Junior year was miserable yet amazing, so I'm eager to see what this summer and senior year have in store for me!

Is it summer yet?

I can't believe spring quarter is over! As soon as I tackle the LSAT on Monday and final exams/papers Tuesday through Thursday, I'll be on summer break.
 
This may have been my least favorite quarter so far - only three real classes plus my two honors theses (20 units total), but my classes were less interesting than normal (of course, it didn't help that I had 9:00am class every day and I've been anything but a morning person this year). International Economic Relations and Cognitive Development weren't the best classes for me to take considering my junioritis, with dry subject material that absolutely didn't motivate me to want to wake up for class. In Arabic, we started a new textbook and while I enjoyed the class, I didn't enjoy how the material got three times harder when it had already been difficult to begin with. However, this is the quarter that my language ability grew exponentially. I can finally read, write, listen, and speak Arabic (to some degree). I'm sure Egypt will only help with that!
 
As far as the LSAT goes... with all the work I've been putting into my jobs, academics/honors theses, fraternity, and social life, I haven't been able to devote as much time as I'd like for LSAT studying. My mantra for Monday is all I need is a 170, which is true if lawschoolpredictor.com is at all accurate. Anything 170+ puts me in range for most of the T-14 law schools, since my LSAC GPA is doing very well after last quarter (and with all my A+s in Arabic). Will I get a 170 on Monday? Maybe. We'll see.
 
Assuming I do well on Monday (or at least do better than February's mostly-decent score), I'll spend my summer finalizing the list of law schools I'm applying to and writing admissions essays. Of course, I have other summer plans... like a month in Egypt, a weekend in Southern California with my family, and a week in Cabo. When I'm back in Davis, I'll also be training for my new position as the International Relations peer advisor and preparing for my fraternity's rush week (since I'm our new Public Relations Chair). I'm hoping to have a fun, productive, and potentially relaxing summer. It'll be nice to have a break from school, even if I'm taking classes in Egypt and will have to study/write papers there.

On a final note, I'm almost done setting up my blog for Egypt! I'll still be blogging here on Dreams and Ambition while I'm abroad, but I'm hoping to update my Egypt blog several times a week. (And what else am I going to do during the hottest part of the day in Cairo anyway?) As soon as the blog is up and running, I'll post the link on here.

My Life Right Now...

Consists of:

1. International Economic Relations 
Cramming for tomorrow's midterm... 500+ pages of dense reading to catch up on
2. Cognitive Development
Just turned in my term paper but now I have a midterm next week, more cramming to do
3. Arabic
Take-home exam and 60 vocab sentences to work on for next week
4. LSAT studying
Only 18 days until the June LSAT and I'm not at all sure how much my score will improve from February, yikes
5. Short days, shorter nights, and spending way too much time obsessing over my Egypt trip in three and a half weeks

Spring Quarter and Junioritis

Spring quarter has been absolutely insane so far. I thought that only taking three classes (Arabic, International Economic Relations, and Cognitive Development) plus my two honors theses - 20 units total - would be feasible. News flash: it's not. I've been struggling to get up for my MTWRF 9am classes after a wonderful winter quarter of 11am/12pm start times. I have fewer papers and less reading than last quarter, but a lot more homework to do... and my honors theses are especially draining.

To be honest, I feel like I don't even have the energy for my classes anymore with my hectic work schedule, fraternity life, job hunt for next year, and newly-21 fun... in other words, I have senioritis as a junior. On the plus side, my GPA is fantastic after winter quarter (I miraculously pulled straight As) so I can afford to get an A- or two.

Apart from school stuff:
1. I'm preparing for summer! The Egypt study abroad program got confirmed at the very last minute so I'm definitely going. I already booked my plane ticket and I can't wait! Apart from Egypt I'm spending a week in Cabo with my boyfriend's family, which will be amazing.

2. I've been jamming to "I Knew You Were Trouble." I normally don't like any of Taylor Swift's songs, but I can't get enough of this one and its millions of parodies (Gollum is hands down the best)!

3. I'm attempting to prepare for the June LSAT, although I'm having trouble fitting practice tests into my already busy schedule. As long as I A) don't get the flu again! and B) go up a few points from February, I should be good to go... but I still need to study first!

I'm hoping that the rest of the quarter goes a bit more smoothly from here on out. However, midterm season has begun so it's likely things will only get tougher from here. Fingers crossed that my "junioritis" goes away and that I can continue to balance all of my activities this quarter!

I Survived

I survived...

1. Finals week
2. My 21st birthday
3. This crazy quarter!

And I'm finally on spring break. At last, I can take a break to breathe, catch up on everything (like my honors theses and June LSAT studying), and sleep.

My other spring break plans include anxiously awaiting my final grades (only one more quarter of grades left until I apply for law school, so every +/- counts right now) and finishing House of Cards on Netflix. I'm about nine episodes into the series and feel like a horrible person for rooting for Frank Underwood... but nonetheless, I'm hooked!

Despite wanting my break to last a while, I'm definitely looking forward to spring quarter. Spring in Davis is pretty much the best thing ever... flowers, sunshine, baby ducks, and warm weather! And it brings me that much closer to summer/Egypt. (Although there's a possibility the Egypt study abroad program might be canceled due to low enrollment and safety concerns, but I'm going to stay optimistic and hope that things do end up working out!)

One last update before I end this post - I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the most prestigious honor society in the country! I've been hoping that I would be elected for the past two years now, and I'm happy that my hard work has finally paid off.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I'm taking a quick study break to glory in my (1/4) Irish heritage.

Although let's be real, I haven't gotten that much studying done this weekend anyway! My friends Hannah and Sarah (who are both on spring break right now) came up to visit yesterday afternoon, and my parents just came up for lunch today to celebrate my 21st birthday a day early. It's been a fantastic weekend, but sadly I have six exams left before I can relax, enjoy the weather, and spend more time with family and friends...

Beware the Ides of March - and Finals Week!

I just finished week 10 of winter quarter... which means that it's time for finals!

This quarter hasn't been fantastic, between having the flu for the LSAT, my apartment burning down, and being turned down for most of the opportunities I applied for this quarter. But at the same time, there have been a lot of highlights to the quarter as well. I'm doing really well in almost all of my classes, I submitted my summer abroad application for Egypt, and I was able to tour Stanford and Berkeley Law last weekend. I'm hoping I will be able to look back on the quarter and think, "Life threw a lot of obstacles my way, but I still managed to survive/thrive." Before I can do that though, I have a week of exams to face.

My finals schedule is pretty daunting, I have to say.
Monday: PSC Midterm (last day of classes) and my birthday
Wednesday: HIS and WMS Finals
Thursday: ARB Final
Saturday: PSC and ECN Finals

Six exams next week? Pretty much the most intense finals week I've ever had to deal with. And I have to ace my History, Econ, Arabic, and Psych exams. But I know that if I put the work in while studying and budget my time well, I should turn out okay. Who knows - maybe this will be my first real quarter of straight As at Davis without an A- to mar the record! (I'm not quite counting fall in DC, since I couldn't receive a letter grade for my internship.)

After finals week, I'll hopefully have a relaxing spring break. I don't have any fun plans yet, except for wine tasting in Napa with my dad (since I turn 21 this Monday!) and studying for the LSAT/doing more work for my Psych honors thesis.

Spring quarter, while hopefully easier than this quarter, will bring its own challenges. I'm only taking three real classes (Arabic, Cognitive Development, and International Economic Relations) but I'm also working on my two honors theses (finishing up Psych and starting IR) and studying for the June LSAT. My February LSAT score, although not horrible (high 160s), was definitely not what I was hoping for so I'm going to retake it. I'll be working a lot at the Mondavi Center and giving tours, and I'll definitely be busy with my pre-law fraternity since it's a rush quarter for us. But hey... at least I'm not taking 24 units again (just 21 units with my honors theses), and I'll only have 3 finals to deal with! And of course, I'll have my month abroad to look forward to...

To end the post, how about a pretty picture of Davis in the springtime? There are a few cherry blossom trees outside my apartment, and while the blossoms have mostly fallen off by now, I managed to get some great pictures earlier in the month.

I Set Fire to the Rain... and Lost My Apartment

For those of you who don't know, my life went up in flames last week (literally). There was a fire at my apartment complex last Monday and my apartment was one of nine that was hit. Although I didn't lose too much of my stuff to the actual fire, the clothing I recovered reeked of smoke for about four wash cycles and I can't get the rest of my stuff back due to asbestos concerns. Last week definitely wasn't the best in my college career, to say the least...

I do have a new apartment as of last Friday, so right now I'm just trying to deal with school, work, and waiting for A) my LSAT score! and B) my apartment complex to finally contact me to say how much of my belongings are salvageable. I still have all of my books inside, furniture, more clothing and shoes, jewelry, and important paperwork. I will likely have to file a claim for damages, considering the fire was the complex's fault and our smoke detector never went off, but I'm still hoping for the best and praying that I can get most of my stuff back.

My new apartment is starting to grow on me. It was built in the 1960s so it's pretty run down and has all linoleum flooring (no carpet), which took some getting used to... but I have my own room and live on campus, so I really can't complain. We also have a cute patio area, a huge kitchen, and a beautiful tree/grass-filled complex so there are definitely a lot of perks. I'm sure I'll love it in the spring and summer, when the lack of carpet will cool down the apartment and I can sit on the grass studying/sunbathing!

With all of the apartment craziness, school has been pretty rough lately. I had to ask for an extension on one of my papers (I never wanted to be that person) and on a bunch of Arabic homework. I took two midterms this week that I felt entirely unprepared for. But as always, I'm hoping for the best and I'm sure I'll pull it together by the end of the quarter.

In case anyone was wondering: the LSAT went okay even though I had the flu that whole week, or at least okay enough that I didn't feel the need to cancel my score. I'm going to retake it in June if I didn't pull at least a 171, though. I'll be putting together my law school applications over the summer and should have my final list of schools by early July! T-14 or bust...

Welcome to... Sickland?

So, I ended Monday's post with, "Hopefully my next post of the quarter will be much more uplifting!" Oh, the irony. My life somehow got more difficult this week... yes, I got sick. From high school onwards, I used to pride myself on my immune system - I had a horrible sleep schedule and would work myself to death, but would only get sick a couple times a year due to a mixture of positive attitude, healthy eating, and lots of antioxidants. (Probably more than a bit of luck, too.) My college career so far has consistently involved me getting sick over winter break and maybe again over either winter quarter or summer break, but never more than that.

Yet somehow I've been sick three times within the last month and a half. Clearly something is wrong here! (A sign I shouldn't take the LSAT this Saturday, perhaps?) My week so far:

Monday - Come home from my Psych midterm. Finish a Logic Games section. Am too braindead to finish more than 8 Reading Comp questions, so decide to take a break for a few hours. Come down with a fever in the evening.
Tuesday - Wake up with fever gone, but very sore throat. Fever comes back as the day progresses. Go to bed at 9:00. No LSAT studying takes place.
Wednesday - Wake up after 13 hours of sleep. Fever is gone, yet I somehow feel worse. Somehow manage to take my Arabic midterm even though I can barely think straight. Tell myself I will study for my History midterm and the LSAT when I get home. Take a nap instead and wake up with fever back. Go to bed early again. No LSAT studying takes place.
Thursday - Wake up with fever gone... and my voice as well. Stuff my backpack full of tissues and hope for the best. Likely contaminate my entire History class during the midterm, with my professor telling me that she hopes I feel better as I turn in my test (a sign that I sneezed one too many times during the exam).

Needless to say, the timing of my little cold/flu/strep throat spell is less than ideal. I'm still going to take the LSAT on Saturday, although I'm not exactly expecting a 180 at this point. We'll see what happens - who knows, maybe being sick will make me more relaxed during the test? (If you can think of a better "positive spin" to put on the situation, please let me know!)

Also, if you sat near me in class today, I'M SORRY! I'll get a flu shot after I get better, I promise! (And you should probably get one too...)

Welcome to Stressland

And thus begins the most stressful week of my college career:

Monday - Developmental Psych Midterm

Tuesday - Gender in the Arab World Paper Outline Due

Wednesday - Arabic Midterm

Thursday - Middle Eastern History Midterm

Friday - Econ Problem Set Due

Saturday - LSAT!

It's Saturday that I'm worried about the most, obviously. I have no clue how well I'll do - I could get a 165, I could get a 175... I feel as if I've lost my LSAT mojo, to be honest! At least I can retake the LSAT in June if necessary, even though spring quarter will be just as hectic as winter quarter (giving me a limited amount of time to study and improve my score). For now, I'm eating "brain food" - berries, avocado, oatmeal - and mixing in more practice tests/sections among my midterm studying. I made some headway in Logical Reasoning this weekend, which was comforting. Hopefully I can continue to improve a bit more (and regain my "mojo").

Even after the February LSAT and my first wave of midterms are over, it won't quite be smooth sailing for me. I'm running for an Executive Board position in my pre-law fraternity and the election is coming up right after the LSAT. I also found out I'm an alternate for the State Department summer internship I applied for, which complicated my plan to study abroad in Egypt. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to be an alternate... but it means I'll be putting down my deposit for the study abroad program knowing that there's a very good chance I'll be forfeiting all that money and taking the internship anyway. A bit stressful, so I'm hoping I find out my final internship status soon and preferably before I have to put down the Egypt deposit.

All in all, winter quarter has been brutal so far and I'm not very happy with my decision to take 24 units. I recently switched my Econ class to Pass/No Pass just so I wouldn't have to worry about a possible GPA hit (last Friday's midterm didn't go very well and the class isn't even required for my major anyway, so I have no reason to take it for a letter grade). The quarter has been overwhelming - nothing but school and work, with a little bit of fraternity stuff mixed in during my "free" time. But on the plus side, the weather is beautiful. Still colder than I would like, especially at night (when it's in the low 30s), but it's sunny and in the 60s during the day so I can't complain too much.

Hopefully my next post of the quarter will be much more uplifting!

Greetings, 2013!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2013! 2012 was seriously the best year of my life so far, despite all the ups and downs.

• I turned 20 and got a boyfriend
• I lost my grandma in March
• I was Social Chair for my pre-law fraternity
• I moved off-campus and began experiencing the "apartment life"
• I began managing the Social Psych lab I work in
• I finished up my resident advisor position and spent the summer working for Conference Housing
• I spent fall in DC and interned for the State Department!
• I read 65 books and completed my Goodreads challenge
• And I enjoyed the midnight releases of Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and The Hobbit!

I know that 2013 will be even better than 2012, and not just because I'm finally turning 21 in March! I'm determined to make this the best year yet: I want to score well on the LSAT and get my (already high) GPA up even more to apply to top law schools in the fall. I'm hoping to go for a couple more fraternity leadership positions. I want to get highest honors on my Psychology and International Relations honors theses, both of which I will be completing this year. And last of all, I want to spend the summer in the Middle East - possibly working for the State Department again, maybe studying Arabic through the Critical Language Scholarship Program, or if all else fails studying abroad in Egypt through UC Davis.

Even if 13 isn't quite the luckiest number, I'm still hopeful that 2013 will turn out to be an amazing year. Best of luck to everyone this year!