Week 15 Famous Last Words

These really are the Last Words, since this is basically the end of this course. I’m really relieved that this course is almost over, because this semester has been overwhelmingly exhaustive in all areas. After finals, I should have about three days to finally relax. Then I will be moving on to other things. Overall, this week I most enjoyed getting to read the projects and porfolios from the Myth-Folklore class. From reading their posts and such, I think that I would have preferred that class over this one. However, Mythology was the first course I ever took in college, so I’ve already completed that requirement by about five years. 

In the scope of my other courses, I have a ten minute presentation, one two page paper (easy), and three five-page papers due by Friday. It’s a bit of a mountain and I might not make it, because, let’s face it, after five years+ of undergrad, my brain is about to faint. 

Outside of school, I really do not have anything significant occurring in my life, because usually, school dominates my life. Christmastime is approaching, which means it’s time for me to turn into the annual scrooge. I dislike pretty much everything about Christmas, and most people think that I’m a pretty awful human being because of this, but I’ve basically grown to accept it. 

I’m also growing a little bitter about the length of this post. Just out of curiosity, I decided to see how much I’ve writing is expected for this class. I estimated that between both reading diaries, storytelling,  blog commenting, project feedback, and portfolio (shortest writing expectation), each week represents about 1500-2000 words written. This is the equivalent of 6-8, 12pt font, double spaced typed pages. If you factor in the extra credit, you could add up to an additional 1000 words, or 4 pages easily. Seeing this perspective suddenly makes me glad that I'm not in grad school yet.

Done.

Week 14 Famous Last Words

This week I decided to watch Peter Brook’s Mahabharata instead of reading for a bit of a change. I am doing a massive amount of reading in other areas, so it was a nice change. It was difficult for me to commit to five hours of content, so I ended up watching the majority of the piece on double time. Like I mentioned in the Reading Feedback post, I think this would have been better split between two weeks.

My best writing for this week will definitely be for my Portfolio piece. Although, I don’t necessarily consider myself to be a great fiction writer, I have enjoyed spending time writing the storytelling posts thus far. I don’t really come across writer’s block often for this class, as it tends to be very straightforward, with the exception on commenting on others’ work. I work as a writing tutor, so I tend to analyze the writing of others over my own and it can be hard for me to separate the critique I would give one of my own students versus what I would give to a classmate.  I did very much enjoy getting to read the projects for the Myth-Folklore class! 

My writing work is far from complete, however, as I have three five-page essays due by Friday for other classes! My other classes are coming to a close. I have been taking Nutrition as the final requirement for my GenEd sciences. It’s been more interesting than I had previously expected, but I am quite ready to be done with classes at this point. I am also in a Russian Literature course (in Russian) and a Russian Literature course as an Independent Study, which are extremely time demanding courses. 

Outside of school, I am preparing myself to study abroad in Russia next semester and getting my affairs in order to begin searching for a full-time job. I’m doing my best to elude true adulthood, but it seems to be creeping on me nonetheless. 

Procrastination by Sarah Andersen

Week 13 Famous Last Words

So far, I have not had any trouble with reading for this course. I am happy that I have been able to so easily access all of the materials that I’ve needed online for free. I have not really used any particular strategy for choosing these week to week, but have just been focusing on what I find to be the most interesting. 

My best writing for this week was definitely not for this class. I am in an independent study this semester over viewing Russian literature of the late 20^th century. Since I am a Russian major, this tends to be where most of best research and writing appears. 

My other classes tend to be much more manageable than this one. Most of my classes are familiar, since they are within my field, or else fairly easy and straightforward. This class has the most volume of any of my classes. 

This past week, I did something a bit unusual for me. I watched football. (Ok, well I watched bits and pieces of a game on TV at a restaurant.) I usually don’t care about sports at all, which is pretty taboo, considering I work for the athletics department! I’m a tutor, and I made a promise to several of my student-athletes that I would at least watch parts of the Bedlam game, and I followed through with that promise. I still don’t care for football. (Sorry, not sorry.) 

My thoughts on football - Erica Patterson