Today at my staff meeting for the bio class I TA, I realized that there are only two more bio lab meetings this semester! There's one tomorrow, then none next week (because of Thanksgiving), one the week after that, and none the week after that (because it's only a half week of classes). We are getting so close to the end of the semester! Somehow my work load continues to decrease, which I'm enjoying. I don't think it's the norm, though- I've talked to a lot of people who have a plethora of tests, papers, projects, and presentations in the next couple of weeks. I just have a little reading for each of my classes, a climate science test next Monday, and an on-going environmental studies project that we are finishing our analysis of. I also have one more Spanish test and another Spanish essay, but those aren't for a few more weeks. My finals load is also fairly light this year- a take-home final in environmental studies, a climate science test, and optional finals in intro to international relations (a paper) and Spanish (a take-home exam). I've never had a class give me an "optional final" before, so I'm a bit conflicted about whether or not to take them. They give students an opportunity to raise their grade if they think they need it, but I feel like it's kind of a gamble.
Then, I'll be going home for three weeks, before coming back here to take a Wilderness First Responder course!
The most exciting part of my week was getting to see a friend from home on Thursday. She's doing a trip down the West Coast, and was spending a while in Portland. We met up downtown and walked for three hours, which was great. I learned a lot about how to get around parts of Portland I'd never been to before, and got to catch up with this friend. It made me a bit homesick, but I get to go home soon.
Last weekend was pretty relaxing. The biggest event was probably going downtown to get my hair cut!
It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I'm glad I did it. I'm amazed how much lighter my head feels now, and how much less time it takes to wash my hair.
Then, I'll be going home for three weeks, before coming back here to take a Wilderness First Responder course!
The most exciting part of my week was getting to see a friend from home on Thursday. She's doing a trip down the West Coast, and was spending a while in Portland. We met up downtown and walked for three hours, which was great. I learned a lot about how to get around parts of Portland I'd never been to before, and got to catch up with this friend. It made me a bit homesick, but I get to go home soon.
Last weekend was pretty relaxing. The biggest event was probably going downtown to get my hair cut!
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| The best pictures I can find to encompass the before/after haircut. I got 10 inches cut off! |
Friday night I went to the Race Monologues (described at the bottom of the link), which were incredible. A group of students shared their stories of how race has affected them, and they left me (and many other people) speechless. They were eloquent, powerful, and very thought-invoking. They encouraged the conversation to continue, and I hope it does. The monologues were the last event of the Ray Warren Race and Ethnic Studies Symposium. Unfortunately, I couldn't go to any other event, but I heard really good things about it. The theme this year was on prison and the relationship between race and different aspects of prison.
After the monologues, my friend and I found a room in Miller (an academic building) and watched the Muppet Movie. Students can go into these rooms and project movies onto a screen, which is pretty cool. I hadn't seen the movie since I was younger, and I realized it's hilarious.
Saturday I got my hair cut, then came back and got dressed up. Instead of going to Fall Ball, a couple of my roommates and another friend and I went downtown for frozen yogurt.
Then we walked around and got sandwiches at the cafe at Powells. I spent Sunday doing homework in the library and catching up on things like laundry. Overall, a great weekend!
If you have any questions ever, about anything, please email me at rekidder@lclark.edu. I would love to hear from you!
-Rebecca
After the monologues, my friend and I found a room in Miller (an academic building) and watched the Muppet Movie. Students can go into these rooms and project movies onto a screen, which is pretty cool. I hadn't seen the movie since I was younger, and I realized it's hilarious.
Saturday I got my hair cut, then came back and got dressed up. Instead of going to Fall Ball, a couple of my roommates and another friend and I went downtown for frozen yogurt.
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| A (somewhat blurry) picture of my friends and I at the frozen yogurt place! |
Then we walked around and got sandwiches at the cafe at Powells. I spent Sunday doing homework in the library and catching up on things like laundry. Overall, a great weekend!
If you have any questions ever, about anything, please email me at rekidder@lclark.edu. I would love to hear from you!
-Rebecca