Hello again! How were everyone’s Thanksgiving breaks? Mine
was much-needed and the flight down to California was so worth it. I was incredibly
happy to see my family after three months of being away! Before I went to
college, I had only spent about five days away from home before. I’d say that I
did fairly well in light of my lack of experience, despite getting a little
homesick towards the end. So, prospective students, never fear! Even if Lewis
and Clark is a plane ride away from home, you will be just fine. If you have a bad day, you are surrounded by your friends that live just next-door and care about you. You and your
parents and siblings (if you have them) will probably miss each other a lot,
but then seeing them again will be that much more wonderful. Plus, in our small
world, it’s so easy to keep in touch. Skype, cell phones, and email are your
friends, and you hopefully have care packages and letters to look forward to! I
correspond with my friend Sarah back in California, who still goes to my old high
school, and my friend Faith at the University of Dallas in Texas. I treasure
every letter I receive, and then writing letters back is so satisfying,
especially on my special poison-dart frog stationary! I hope they aren’t
getting tired of all the Doctor Who sticky notes I send them.
Anyway, back to Thanksgiving break. My dog was beside
herself at our reunion. Her name is Amber and she is a Golden Retriever, which
is the only type of dog my family has ever owned because my mom is a fanatic.
Here’s a cute picture of Amber and my mom together! Awww… I miss them both
already.
And then there’s Amber and me on our hammock. Sunny
California! It’s not a recent picture, but the weather was almost warm enough for
shorts and T-shirts while I was there even in late November. Almost. Not quite. But still much warmer than here. I prefer cool weather anyway. Summer is my least favorite season at home because I just can't stand temperatures above 90 degrees.
I had quite a bit of astronomy homework over break, but I
wasn’t able to do all of it. I am meeting my professor in his office tomorrow
to get some extra help, and if I still need it after that, I’ll go to the Math
QSRC, which stands for the Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning Center, where all the math and science tutors wait for their victims. As
cool as graphing light paths through the expanding universe is, relativity is
hard! I also have an essay for Exploration and Discovery due on Friday, which I
think I mentioned in my last post. I really like how it’s coming together, but
it’s pretty tricky to organize since I’m not used to writing comparative
papers. Normally, I’m focusing on just one text, and drawing from two is a
little more difficult to keep coherent. I had a meeting with my professor last
week though, and she gave me a lot of help. Lewis and Clark professors are
wonderful in that they make it so easy for you to talk to them outside of
class! Even if you’re not sure if you need that much help, they are a great
resource just to converse with and run ideas by. I’m always shocked when my
friends at larger universities say they have never personally talked to their
professor.
Finals have really snuck up on me, and I can’t believe my
first semester of college is nearly over. I have two finals on Saturday the 14th,
then one on Tuesday, then one on Wednesday, and then I fly home again! But
first, my mom is flying up to see my Ghanaian Dance performance this weekend.
Hopefully I can balance my time between hanging out with her in Portland and studying.
As always, contact me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu!
Jess