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).