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!