End of the Week!

Today is the last actual day of classes. It is crazy to think that this is the end of the first semester of my first year of college already. It definitely has not been easy but it has been a fun, challenging, new experience and I'm sad that the first half went so fast. This first semester has already taught me so much about myself as a person and learner. It has also given me the opportunity to meet and get to know different types of people. This past week has really given me a lot of insight into my future as a student at Wartburg College. To get everything accomplished that I needed to this week, I really had to manage my time. The amount of work and studying that I had to complete this week was quite a bit and rather stressful. There were quite a few nights this week that I was up into the wee hours of the morning trying to get papers, presentations, or an understanding of material done. It hasn't been easy but I know that I can handle that amount of stress, pressure, and work. Even though this difficult week is over, I'm not quite done yet. This following week is the beginning of finals. I am fortunate enough to be done on Wednesday. I have one final on Monday, one on Tuesday, and an exam on Wednesday. I plan on taking each day one at a time and getting a lot of studying done. This probably means that I will be staying up pretty late again but it's all worth it in the end to recieve that knowledge and even more so that good grade. Although I know that a liberal education is supposed to teach students that grades aren't as valuable as we make them out to be. I still can't agree with this concept. If grades weren't important, than graduate schools and businesses wouldn't use this as a determining factor. Since they do, I believe that this is why we as students work so hard in order to get the grade. We like succeeding and recieving that feedback that lets us know we are doing well.

Stressful week

This coming week is not one that I am looking forward. The semester is coming to a close so many projects and tests are around the corner. My schedule for this coming week has already got me stressed out. For Monday, I have two presentations to do. One is my debate in Oral Comm. I am a little nervous about this because I don't like speaking in front of people and I don't like debates. I will be glad to get it over with though. That means that I am pretty much done with that class. My other speech is in IS. The main reason I am nervous for this is because it is part of my final project. However, I did enjoy the book I chose and the speech only has to be five minutes long so I don't think it should be too bad. On Tuesday, I don't have anything besides chemisty lab which is over at 10:45 but on this day I need to get a lot of studying done for certain finals that will be coming up and write a paper. Wednesday, is another day that I don't have anything due but I need to finish my presentation for my Biology Lab, get my paper critiqued, and STUDY. The day that I am most nervous about for this week is Thursday. On Thursday, I have to present my oral Lab Report in Biology lab and I have to take my final lab exam. Lab exams are stressful because anything is game in the whole lab manual. Once Thursday is over all I really need to worry about is making sure my final paper for IS is done and then making sure I am well prepared and studied for my finals that will be occuring the following week. This is another week that I am dreading. Once I am done with finals, I will feel so relieved and definitely will be needing a long break to get away from homework and school for awhile. Hopefully these next two weeks go by fast but are successful!

Cold Tubing....BRRRR

Coach Newsom implemented the mandatory cold tubing rule this past week. The upperclassmen had informed me of this rule and I was dreading the day that he was going to actually enforce it. Mandatory cold tubs mean that everyone has to find time after practice to sit in a freezing cold tub of water. My first time was not so fun. Freshmen, of course, get the honor of doing our cold baths last. To do a cold bath, you first have to put on these super cute and stylish green shorts. Since we were one of the last groups to do ours there were only XL shorts left. HUGE!! I had to roll them a couple times just to make sure they kind of stayed up. Not to mention that a lot of these shorts looked like they had been put through a shredder. They are covered in holes. Anyways once you have the shorts on, you go into the training room. In there is a tub the size of a hot tub but with cold water. The main objective is to try and fit as many people into the tub so you can cuddle together for as much warmth as possible (pretty pointless because it doesn't do any good). Once you are in the cold water, you have to remain there for ten whole minutes. Now to a lot of people that doesn't seem like a long time and it's not if you're in a warm room watching TV or something fun. When you are in a tub full of cold water, shivering, covered in goose bumps, that clock doesn't seem like it ever moves. At the end of those ten minutes, I feel like it's Christmas or my birthday and I just recieved the coolest present. It takes awhile afterwards to get warmed up too. You can't go from extremely cold to warm really fast because you could put your body into shock so it has to be done in a gradual process. Sometimes I don't warm up until I'm finally in bed under layers and layers of covers and blankets. Although they are the least fun thing, they do help with sore muscles and reviving your body from a hard workout.

Saturday Practice

This weekend we had our first Saturday morning practice for track. I wasn't sure what to expect at first. I was really nervous because Coach had said that it was going to be tough. Even though he told us this, I was still hoping that there was a small chance that he was kidding. I found out at 7:00 AM that he wasn't and I had gotten my hopes up. First we warmed up. Coach made sure that all of us were really stretched out. Then we went for a fifteen minute run. After that, Newsom had us do ladder killers. After each time, he would put down another cone farther away. Once we finished doing the ladder with the farthest cone, we had to go back down. Now that he had our thighs and calves burning, Coach must have thought that it'd be a good idea to have us do repeat 200s. Each 200 the percentage went up and for the last two they were timed. For the girls we had to complete them in thirty seconds and if we didn't then one more was added on. Well we weren't that lucky and ended up having to do an extra because a lot of us were tired and didn't make it in the set time. After our 200s our practice was pretty much over except for our cooldown. I thought that I was going to be able to get a lot of my homework done through the rest of the day but that was not the case. My body was so worn out from practice that once I got back to my room, showered, and got some food into me, I passed out. I was exhausted and my body was sore. The wonderful joys that come along with track that I'm just now figuring out. Can't wait for the rest of the season! :)

THANKSGIVING!!

Thanksgiving is definitely not my favorite holiday but I still enjoy this day. It's a time that I get to spend time with the people who are closest in my life, my family, and am able to eat good food. I think that this year I looked forward to Thanksgiving so much more because of two things. The main reason I was exctied for Thanksgiving was to see my family and after my friend's misfortune, it just made me want to see them even more. It had been about three weeks since I had seen my family and I missed them a lot. The second reason I was looking forward to Thanksgiving was for the food because the food at Wartburg definitely does not compare to homemade meals. I ate so much that day. I might have gained my freshman 15 in one day (just kidding!). My grandma made the best spread of turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, different side salads, homemade rolls, and homemade pies. There was no way that I could pass all of this up so I had it all...in small portions of course.This break allowed me to spend a lot of valuable time with my family, create new memories of decorating the house for christmas, and get caught up on sleep. I didn't want to come back especially because I know these next two to three weeks are going to be stressful/busy ones. I know this because I have two final projects due, a speech, a normal exam, and two final exams. On top of all this work, I also have track practice everyday except Sunday and have to work at the pool. I can't wait until it's over and I am back at home for a three week break. Hope it comes fast. Wish me luck(:

Learning to be more thankful

This last week I really learned how much I have to be thankful for. Ironically, I didn't come to this realization because it was the week of Thanksgiving though. This past week, one of my friends went through one of the toughest things possible. She unexpectedly lost her father. Friday morning her dad went in for a routine gall bladder surgery. Her family was told that there were to be no complications. However, during the surgery her father unexpectedly started hemorrhaging. He was lifeflighted to the hospital in Des Moines. Before he was put onto the helicopter, he started singing to his daughter, "I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again!" She told me afterwards that at that point she knew in her heart that her dad was not going to make it through the night and he didn't. He slipped into a coma before the helicopter reached Des Moines and was put onto a ventilator. The family was told that there was no possible way of bringing him back. The only way that he would be able to stay alive was by being hooked to this machine but he would never regain consciousness. When I recieved this news Friday night, I realized how grateful I was to have all of my family members safe and healthy. I can't imagine the pain my friend and her family were going through. I know that if this were ever to happen to me, it would be unbearable. I now thank god everyday for everything that I am thankful for. It has really put what is most important in my life into perspective.

Max Outs

Strength and conditioning for track started seven weeks ago. We started off the first week by maxing out except it wasn't a full max out. Coach Norton was only letting us go to 85% so this week finally are able to try to lift 100% of our maximum weight. We had our first day of max outs yesterday that included the power clean, front squat, 300 m shuttle, sit ups, and push ups. It was a tiring process but in the end it was totally worth it. Seeing how much my maxs had gone up made me feel really good about myself. I found out a lot about myself. I realized that if I put my mind to something and told myself that I could accomplish something I actually could. For my first lift, the power clean, I ended up raising my max by 25 pounds. I could do over 100 pounds and I never thought in my four years here that I would be able to do that so getting it done in my Freshman year here. The second lift, the front squat, I thought I was going to be done at 135 because I struggled with it a little bit. However the girls at my platform thought that I could do more so they encouraged me to try going up five pounds. I trusted them so I said I'd try it. I told myself that I could and with a little encouragement from my teammates I ended up being able to put it up. The best part of being able to lift that was looking at Coach Norton and seeing her give me a big smile of appreciation. The only thing she wanted out of us for that day and the day to come is to give it our all and to push ourselves. Every girl in that weight room gave her just that and made her very proud. It's a good feeling knowing that you did something right and that someone else is proud of you for it. It makes all the pain and fatigue worth it.