Welcome back! It’s officially 2013 and we made it past the “end
of the world” according to the Mayan calendar. During this Christmas break, I was able to truly relax from the
stresses of school and brace myself for yet another challenging semester. Even
though classes are a bummer, it’s always good to be back and see everybody
again. Right before I came back to Hope, I took a plane ride and took two
trains to get to Kalamazoo, MI to hang out with my former roommate for the
weekend before classes started. This was one last hoorah before buckling down
and studying. We were able to go sledding, have a snowball fight, watch movies, and eat home-cooked meals. This was the ideal way of having some fun right before classes on Tuesday morning. On Monday afternoon my roommate and I traveled back
to Hope and I was greeted with a nice email saying that I have books waiting
for me in the mailroom… great, time to study.
These first few classes of the semester have been well… overwhelming.
Things such as finding the right classroom, getting to class early, printing
syllabuses, buying books, unpacking, and doing assignments that are given
before class begins are extremely stressful. I already had a quiz due the day
school started and didn’t even have class that day! Talk about getting a jump-start
on the semester. Like all of the previous semesters, the first week is always
the worst because you’re getting in the groove of everything and making a
routine for yourself. However, while in this first week, assignments are
already starting to pile up and you are greatly needing yet another break from
school. At least that’s how I feel right now. I already have a lab report,
reading assignments, online quizzes, research articles, and other little things
that pop up — a constant reminder that break is really over and won’t
return for quite a while.
Despite the academics, there are some fun things that will
be starting up now that it’s the second semester. For instance, the new
intramural season is about to start in which I’m joining a co-ed volleyball
team and inner tube water polo team. Those should be very interesting. Beyond intramurals, Hope’s basketball
season is underway and the anticipated Hope vs. Calvin game is next week at Calvin. The Men’s Basketball season is my favorite time of the year because the entire school gets so involved through the Dew Crew. Some
other things to look forward to include: SAC events, such as movies every weekend, but also hypnotist Fred Winters and Winter Fantasia later this month.
Anyway, if you are reading this and are stressed about your
new semester, just take things one step at a time and do your best. That’s
honestly all you can do and I’ll try to take my own advice into consideration
as well. Have a good week, everybody!
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.