Well, I can’t think about my King Lear paper anymore, so I’m
going to take a break and write about something other than chaos and baseness
and nothingness and fools and madmen. Instead, let’s just talk about day-to-day
life at Lewis and Clark.
One great thing about college is you have a lot of freedom
to choose your schedule. I particularly like how this term has turned out in
that regard. Although in previous semesters I have had classes starting at 8am
and 9:10am, this year, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I don’t start class
until 11:30am! However, I usually don’t sleep in that late. I’m a light
sleeper, so I usually wake up when my roommate starts moving around to get
ready for her early classes.
This morning (Monday), I got up when she left at
around 9am, and right away I went out for a run. It’s so nice to be able to get
that done before I even go to class, because I'll probably feel like I don’t
have enough energy later in the day. I run at Tryon Creek State Park, which is right next
door to campus. Today, it was raining. Of course it was! This is Portland, and it's October. Being in the rain is just something you
get used to. It’s important to do all the things you would normally do despite
the weather, and not use the rain as an excuse not to do things you enjoy. At
least, that’s how I look at it.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my rainy run, and
afterwards, I shot an email to my mom to just check in and say hi, and listened to music. I always go
to the dining hall at 11am as soon as it opens for lunch, so I have time to eat
before Japanese. To give you some perspective on how small the campus is, it
only takes me one minute to get from my room to the dining hall, and about five
minutes to class (three if I power-walk). Then, Japanese, yoga, and philosophy
are all right in a row, and I’m done with class for the day! So now I’m back in
my room, and it’s time to study and catch up on my non-academic to-do list
(like writing a blog entry J
). I feel like I have plenty of time to get everything done today. Of course,
my Mondays are nothing compared to my Thursdays, when I have class from 8am
until 12:30pm and then again from 1:50pm – 3:20pm, plus yoga club, and other events that might be planned, but I personally think one super busy day each week is a
price I’m willing to pay for other, easier days.
Along those lines, my main concern right now is my schedule
for future semesters. On Wednesday, I have my advising appointment where I meet with a professor in my department (English) to talk about academic matters. I need to
decide what classes I’m taking next term. I will definitely take the second
half of the English survey – Major Periods and Issues in English Literature –
and another English class (probably Poetry Writing), and Japanese 102. Then, I still have one spot left over which needs to be filled. As it stands, I will probably not be able to fit my runs in before class anymore... Oh well. And since I’m a sophomore
right now, things are really getting down to the wire in terms of long-term planning
for the rest of college. The two big issues I have right now are declaring a
major and applying for study abroad programs. I know I’m definitely an English
major, but I still need to talk that over with my advisor, actually submit the major
declaration form, and make a four-year plan. And since I’m studying Japanese, I’m
hoping to study abroad in Japan. I’m not sure where in Japan I’ll go, because
we actually have four different programs at Lewis and Clark that go to Japan,
but I know I am going to go in the spring of my junior year. My backup plan is
to go to Australia or London. I’ve always known I wanted to study abroad.
Whether or not I would was never a question up for debate. The only question
was where to go. I actually think that was a real reason why I chose Lewis and
Clark over other schools. Lewis and Clark just has such an international focus.
Here’s a link to all of our awesome study abroad programs!
Sorry if this entry was boring. I hope it was at least slightly informative. It’s just that most of what
is on my mind right now is logistical planning, and schedules, and suchlike, so
that’s what this entry ended up inevitably being about. I’ll write about
something more “fun” next week! Like poetry slams and Bill Nye the Science Guy!
Any questions? Email me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu.
Jess