Reflections

I just wanted to reflect back on this semester and say that it was a lot of what I expected and didn't expect. I had fun and learned a lot from this. I know will be able to grow into a more educated college student and expand from what I have. I was satisfied will my grades and happy with everything I learned.

Welcome

You are very welcome Professor Liptak, and you most def. will see me in January because I am going to be in the writing center alot next semester! PS I hope you found my Research Paper interesting!

Some final reflections . . .

I'm reading your final essays, and for the most part I'm saying, "Wow!"  I think that those of you who should be "kissing their brains" know who you are . . . I am pleased to see that many of you believe that the course has helped you in some or even multiple ways.  We can't possibly cover everything, and in no way will we ever be finished. 

Thank you for all that you did to make the class meaningful and fun!  Each of you brought something unique to the class, and I genuinely feel priviledged (sp - I can never get this word right!) to be part of it.  I look forward to seeing y'all on campus in January . . .

Enjoy the holiday season with your friends and family and be safe!  Also, read a good book!  The best writers are avid readers, for they know what the written word looks like on the page, and they see how the words work together. 
All the best,
Michelle  

Christmas Break

I am really excited because Christmas and the New Year are coming. I am going to share a good amount of time with my family, and I am going to enjoy my time off Siena. I am going to enjoy good food and forget about Saga food for a while. The only thing that I was upset about is the final schedule. I have to wait until Saturday the 19th to take my first final, and then Monday the 21st to take my last final. The bad thing about the final on the 21st is that I am going to be done at 8:00 P.M; therefore I have to leave the next day. Other than the final schedule, I strongly believe that this time off is going to be great, and that everybody is going to enjoy their time at home.

So I thought I was going to be done with these posts. I felt like I ended the class and thus ended the blog, but I find myself sitting here in the library proscratinating so here I am. I only have 2 finals this semester. Not too bad, but I CANNOT do anything. I am complete useless. I've never had this much trouble studying before, ever!!!! I don't know maybe it's senioritis or something. I am going to try and study again. Wish me luck!

NICE MEETING EVERYONE!

First semester went by kind of fast!
Writing class was interesting and very helpful for me and im pretty sure it was helpful for everyone in some way. It was nice to have class with you guys and i wish you all a wonderful next semester and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Christmas Time

It's about that time of year when I start to feel the Christams spirit. I'm excited for Christmas because of the hot chocolate, the christmas songs and ABC Family and disney channel movies. This has been the best part of year for me. I'm up early watching some Christmas shows enjoying myself. I didn't ask for much this year and I don't want too much. I just need to get a lot of gifts for my siblings. I hope everyone else enjoys the season.

Class refection

It is incredible how the semester finished so quickly. I feel that I learn a lot of things in this class and that I improved my writing skills. At first, I thought that a lot of the things that we did in this class were pointless, but eventually ended up understanding their purpose. They really helped me in the long run. For instance, all the free writing exercises that I did help me realize that free writing is a great way to brainstorm. From now on, I am going to free write before I write any essay to see how much I know about my topic. I also would begin visiting the writing center more often because I do not feel that I improved all the things I wanted to improve. I need to work on my grammar and improve my word choices as well.

So we just finished our last writing class, and I'm kind of sad. Don't get me wrong its nice to have one big check mark on my list of things to do, but I really enjoyed class and I can't believe this semester is over already. I feel like I was just writing that letter explaining what I wanted to learn. Looking back at that letter I was shocked at how many of those personal goals that I set for myself I actually did meet. I don't know what I'm trying to say, I guess I just wanted to thank everyone. I had a really great class this semester, and I really think that everyone brought a new and interesting point of view that helped to make class what it was.

Focus...

I have one more research paper to complete after I finish this writing assignment. I still have to do the research and write the paper, and yet somehow, I can't get myself to focus long enough to even finish the editing process for my writing paper. Granted that I know that I will find a way to pull this off, I also know that I am going to deeply regret my procrastination when it comes down to the final minutes before my deadlines. I need to find a way to make me focus better on what needs to be done.

Procrastination

I have never had so much trouble sitting down and doing my homework as I experienced today. I have one final class in marketing tomorrow and I can't seem to sit down and complete my work. Its almost done, I have four simple questions to complete but I can't seem to get around to do it. It's not that I'm busy, I just can't stop procrastinating.

snow day

I did not expect such a snowy day today. I love snow; it makes the day look so white and beautiful. Finally we are starting to see some winter signals in a weather that has been so unstable. I have been sick twice this semester because the weather did not stay constant for a good amount of time. Now that I have seen some snow for two days, I’m happy because the weather looks like it is going to stay stable for the rest of the winter. Some people may think that the cold weather is not good but I rather have a cold weather all the time, and know what to wear and what to expect for the day, father than guessing how the day is going to be and checking the weather cast every day. I hope to go play in the snow today, and have a fun day.

Snow Day

I am writing in the blog tonight in order to procrastinate writing a 10 page paper. I am just so tired of everything. Between my internship, classes, applications, and my thesis I just can't seem to find enough time to get everything done. Normally on a day like today, with the imminent threat of snow, I would be hoping for a snow day, but instead I am worrying about driving to my internship. I just feel like in a couple of weeks I went from being a college student to an adult. I am growing up and it stinks. I know being a senior is supposed to be so much fun and it is, but I would still rather not be.

I think I'll follow Craig's rant by saying that I also hate driving in the snow. Two winters ago I was driving with my girlfriend in my mom's VW Jetta and hit a turn going too fast, hit a patch of ice, and slid off of the road into a ditch. Needless to say, I felt like the man...not so much. Lucky for me I live in the redneck capitol of the world and people behind me were driving a half-ton truck and towed me out. Of course, they did leave with me their mark after helping me when they told me to "slow the **** down," and drove away. That was a fun day.

Snow

I hate the snow. I hate cleaning off my car and driving on slippery roads. I almost got into a really bad car accident once in the snow, just missing another car before I slammed into a log that finally stopped me as I slid down the hill. Another time I did actually get into an accident because of slippery roads. Both times were not because of an inability to drive, my parents even admitted that neither were my fault. Ever since then I don't like driving in the snow.

Last week

I too am having mixed feelings about this whole last week of classes. On the one hand, I am happy to be rid of all things research papers, but on the other I actually like some of my classes and am going to sort of miss being at siena. Going home for a few weeks is going to be weird.

I'm still having trouble finding some sources for my paper. I am kind of nervous about that. I'm defiantly feeling the pressure as I have one more to do after this one, but hopefully I'll be able to pull everything off.

The end is here

I have just a few classes left and I am having mixed feelings. I'm happy that the work is almost done but I am going to miss my classes. In high school we had lecture that always put me to sleep but now I actually have conversation and discuss how we feel. This helps me learn more about other people and a different view. I am up a little to late so I need to go to bed before I become sleep deprived. I am also in a good mood because I got a really good grade on my rough and I like my topic so I can express myself better.

Last Week

I cannot believe it is the last week of the semester. I'm not sure that I am fully prepared for it either. I have a lot of work to accomplish this week and have been working for the past eight hours today to slowly chip away at it. The worst part is that after this week there is still no relief until finals are done. I only have three finals, however, my Business to Business marketing class promises to take up every one of the eleven days that I have to study. My last day of classes will be this Thursday and I plan on studying for that exam everyday until December 21st. I work at Guiseppe Zanotti in the Woodbury Commons and was just informed that I have to work on Christmas Eve. Since very few people come into my store on a daily basis, Christmas Eve promises to be extremely boring.

I don't know about everyone else, but I cannot wait to get my research paper back tomorrow. I have thought about it this weekend, and there are some things that I know I need to fix up. I made some mistakes in adding my pictures and charts. I need to cite these things, and learned how to do this properly in looking at other students' papers in class. Also, I feel like I need to incorporate more of myself into the paper. This is something that usually is not a problem, but since it is a research paper things become confusing.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was spent eating, sleeping, and watching television. We all need days like these occasionally to re-charge our batteries.

Mentoring Program

So this entire semester I was apart ot the mentoring program here at Siena. These past saturdays with my "little" Jazmein has been a lot of fun. She is eleven and she is a very sweet girl. She does good in school and is very polite. I enjoyed the program because she was a good girl to work with. She was a little bit like a sister that I already have. She was is a very nice person and I hope she continues to do well in school so she can graduate from high school and attend a college like Siena. She has kept my interest throughout the program will her funny stories with things that happen with her in school. She was always funny and had a good sense of humor. I will miss her but I know I will have to continue the program next semester. If I could I would also do the summer program so that I would be able to have more time in the program with her.

I am at the library doing homework. I just want to encourage everyone to hang in there, we are almost done with the semester.

So I’m real glad we had this draft due before the weekend because this weekend was extremely unproductive! I slept in all Sunday and went shopping Saturday. I am super relived that I don’t have to work on my Writing paper and that I have some of it done and just need to get it revised, develop it more and fix any major errors. Today was a day to just relax because I know the closer we get to finals the more work I’m responsible for.

Research paper first draft

I really appreciate the comments made by the group that reviewed my paper. They made me realize that my paper was better than what I thought and that I have to correct my grammar errors to make my paper stronger. I am going to work on my transitions between paragraphs and the organization of the paper as well. I want to finish this course in a strong note, and hope that everyone else finishes in the same way as well. I can’t way to see the grade for my first draft on Monday. I spent a lot of energy and time on this paper, and I hope that this amount of work is worth the grade.

Friday. . .

Finally today is Friday! It has been a very long week. If I can just get through today I will be able to relax a little bit this weekend. I have three classes in a row starting in a couple hours (it is only six though, why do I get up this early?) I have a history quiz today and a paper due for Foundations. I have to prepare more for the quiz because I do not feel ready yet, but with the paper I have nothing to worry about. I am done with classes at 12:20, at which time I am going to sit down and get all of my work done that is due Monday and Tuesday. If I can do this it really will be a stress-free weekend. They're the best. I pick up one of my buddies, Phil, tonight at the train station at seven, he's coming to visit from St. John Fisher College in Rochester. It will be fun to have him here, especially for the Siena vs. UAlbany basketball game!

Have a good weekend!

Relax Day

After having a lot of work to do between many classes I had to take today as my "relax day" and have some me ime. I haven't had this in a long time and felt it was very important that I do so. Tonight I am watching Mr.&Mrs. Smith with a few of my firends and I feel very relaxed because I know this is what I have been waiting on for a long time just no stress. I was a good choice of a movie to use to loosen up. I am going to enjoy the rest of the night and go to bed early so that I can wake up early and do some last minute studying for Psychology and have the reat of the day to work on my quiz. I hope I do good because I have been reading a lot for this chapter. The end is almost here so I want to enjoy it be relax and work hard.

Research Paper

So this paper seemed to come a little bit more naturally. I felt prepared and felt like I had a good amount of information and research. That defiantly set out a more comfortable base to build my essay on. As I read Courtney paper in class today and saw how her personal story fit in so smoothly into her essay it motivated me to fit mine in better in my essay. I feel like I just stated it, stated how I felt and that was it, I didn’t really incorporate it as much as Courtney did in her essay. Overall I feel really good about my essay so far.

OMG!

Ok so I changed my topic for my research paper like 3 times. Now i am set on a topic about drug addictions and its effects, it is a topic that i know a lot about. I was actually going to do this topic at first but i wasn't sure if i should. Funny thing is that when we were first given this assignment and were told write about 3 things that affected us personally here at Siena or back at home, I decided to talk about three things here. I listed the condition of the bathrooms, the laundry room and the noise in the halls during quiet hours. Not knowing that we were going to have to do research on theses things i was really interested in writing about them, but there was no way i was going to find information about either of the 3 in a book, online or an article :) so i was stuck (and then i found 20 dollars)! No i just added the 20 dollars part in case some people didn't find that funny.

Sleep!

So, I finished up my research paper rough draft tonight. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. My topic is sleep deprivation on the Siena College campus. I feel compelled to share that as I wrote the paper I could not have felt like more of a hypocrite. As I read over my first rough draft I found what felt like a hundred errors and it dawned on me, I wrote the paper while feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. On Monday night, in preparation for Tuesday's class, I was working on my rough draft until about three in the morning. When I stopped working on it I got on my computer and surfed the internet and hung out with friends until about 4:30. I finally went to bed and was up at 8 later that morning. My entire paper I talk about how students need to take the personal initiative to get their work done during the day and sleep at night. . .I'm probably just as bad as anyone! It really is a problem for me, and when everyone reads my paper, it will become obvious that it is a problem for a lot of people. Why do we become such procrastinators in college? Well, I should say that I've always been this way...but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, what I meant to say when I sat down was that I really feel like I took something good out of this assignment. Lack of sleep is something that has a ton of negative effects, but is something that can be avoided. After doing the research I plan on honestly trying to cut down on my procrastination and go to bed at night--not the early morning. It's too bad that I came to this realization with finals looming where the amount of time sitting in front of the books will be the highest this year. It's never too late to make a change, though.

Guitar

I recently started learning guitar and I am not very good. I have had trouble finding time to practice this week. I have so many assignments to finish that I cannot find the time to play. I am still learning chords and I cannot play any songs yet. I plugged it into the amp for the first time today and it makes bad sounds worse. My last day of classes is on December 10th so I will have plenty of time to practice in the week I have before my first final. Finals are so late this year. I'm pretty sure I was home by the 16th last year. It may have seemed shorter because finals were cancelled after only a day or so last year. I was home on disability because I broke my right arm and ankle and had to finish my classes from home starting around Halloween. I drove up to take my exams, took all of them in one day and they were cancelled that night because of the ice storm.

Crazy Day

They are correct when they say you learn something new everyday. Today was my most busiest and craziest day of my college career. I made a mistake that I learned from and I think I was threated graciously and will be forever happy with myself and how I was blessed. I need to be more on track and keep what I learned in my life forever. I am happy that I learned it earlier in life. I know this can be confusing reading this I just needed to vent about my day. Beside this I cut my 11 papers down to only 9 and I not to worried as much anymore because I realized that time was just not here for me so I am not too upset. I just to keep going forward and love myself for trying and not worrying about anything beside getting my work done on time and getting grades I deserve. Today just helped me realize that I made the right choice about coming to this school. I am very much upset with things I have done in the past but as long as they stay in the past I will be fine.

End of Semester

It is hard to believe it is already the end of the semester. I only have three days of classes left since I have four classes on Tuesday and Thursday only. This has been the best schedule I have had in the 5 semesters that I have been at Siena. Even though it may seem like I have 5 days off, my schoolwork takes up a full day on Monday and Wednesday along with the work I have to do every other night. Since all of my classes are on the same day I have the potential to have four exams on one day. Next semester's schedule is still somewhat up in the air as I am most likely changing my major. I want to switch to English Education. In order to do so and still graduate on time I will have to take six classes for my last three semesters and take two or three summer courses. I wish I had known what I wanted to do earlier so I could have planned accordingly.

Finals

It's coming to the end and I am really very overwhelmed. I have a lot of papers to finish and start plus I also have final exams. I think I could do a lot better if I put the time in but being involved is also taking time. I enjoy being involved in the community but it comes at a price of me having to compromise doing my work. My grades are good at the same time I know it can be better. I plan on doing my best with the rest of my semester and do what I came to school to do at the same time have fun. This just helps me know what I have to do with my time second semester.

Thanksgiving break came just in time. I really needed a break from school and all the work. But now its time to get down to work and finish up the semester. I have been working on my final paper for this class. It seems to be going pretty well. I found a lot of information, now I just have to figure out how I want to put it all together.