My Summer Days 2013

My holidays somehow end up being busier than regular "working" semesters. Go figure.

I had just about one free week, and then all this started:

1) Two online classes - both four weeks long, both reading intensive. Past experience with summer classes did not prepare me for this!

2) Summer internship - Unpaid summer internship. My last internship was more work oriented, but it was a paid internship. Since this is for college credit, so far it's been more classes and more READING!

This is not the sort of reading I had planned on doing this summer. At least I get college credit at the end of it all (hopefully) ...?

3) Freelance writing job - (thank you craigslist.) I get to interview local business people and do write-ups. My first article just published ... SUPER excited to join a family history of published writing.

Life has a funny way of coming full circle. When I'd started majoring in English I'd been warned to avoid journalism because it was not lucrative or glamorous. Well, this isn't glamorous, but it's my only source of money for the time being.

There are other things that keep me busy. Searching for, applying for, and praying for another (unpaid!) internship for the fall. This will be a guaranteed 3 credits towards my major. All this unpaid business ... I'm consoling myself with a) I'll be learning new skills and exploring something new b) It'll be a good experience to put on the resume and c) The networking possibilities are fantastic. Somewhere between 8 hours of internship, 6 hours of class work, 6 hours of sleep, 2 hours of getting ready/eating/taking a breath, I'm squeezing in chores like sorting through years worth of memories and junk in order to clear up space in the house, contacting people for regular communications, showering, searching for a real paying job, reading for pleasure, blogging, establishing a professional net-presence, catching up on shows/youtube, learning new things, and spending quality time with the family. (If you do the math, the last litany of things is accomplished in a 2 hour window.)

Plans Are For Amateurs

What I'd intended to do this summer:

1) Get through my mom's recipe diary - it's got well over 100 recipes and I wanted to make as many as possible.

2) Try a new recipe a week from the myriad of cookbooks we've collected over the years, but never actually used.

3) Read. Specifically, FREE read things that have been sitting on my to-read and to-re-read list for ages!

4) Take up a photo-project.

5) Digitize all the old print photos.

6) Clean and organize various parts of the house because they need an overhaul.

7) Write! I really wanted to get into the habit of writing on a daily basis, but I'm lucky if I catch a proper sleep on a daily basis.

8) Pick up a new skill/learn something new. This will happen by the way at the internship, but I'd been thinking of something a little less work-oriented.

9) Paint ... I'd finally gotten some surge of inspiration. Now I have a muse running lose in my head and no time to let her express herself on canvas.

10) Travel. This would have been a great time to do a family trip, but now even the weekends are booked with papers for these stupid classes.

What's that saying? We plan and God laughs...

2013 Check In #1

Life is hectic. I had forgotten how demanding undergrad was. Or maybe it's the years that have changed my perspective and priorities. It's out of the house from 7am to 5pm, back in just long enough for tea, then gym, them home for shower & dinner & barely enough time to do readings and homework (woah! I really didn't think I'd be doing homework at this stage in my life). Somewhere in there I manage to squeeze in sleep. Weekends are left for taking care of the house, catching up on school stuff and trying to keep up with an online course I'm taking.

Not sure what possessed me to join an online course, but I couldn't pass up on something called Learning Creative Learning, especially when it was free. It's a MOOC (massive open online course) offered by MIT via p2pu... and this is all very new to me, so I'm completely geeking out over the new words and concepts ;) That should neatly cover Resolution #5 - to learn a new skill.

School takes care of #2 - keeping up with reading. The rest of my 2013 resolutions are all giant WIPs, much like the household DIYs I've got lined up. We'll get into that later. Maybe. If I make any progress at any rate.

I've got a few reviews coming your way. Hopefully I'll get them written up & posted more frequently than this last post took to get out. That just goes to show, I'm that tied up with "life". Lately, my idea of taking a break involves cleaning a room in the house or learning some new housekeeping trick. I'm growing OLD! REALLY need to get to #7 - take a vacation with Mishal - ASAP!

ps - I just had to watch Forbidden Planet for a class. I don't think this kind of sci-fi is my cup of tea, which is too bad since I'm taking an entire class on SF writing (not the class I had to watch this movie for... the Gods are laughing). On the other hand, Hunger Games is on the reading list, so it can't be all that bad ;)

I'll leave you with my current motto in life ... really trying to live by these words:

Living Life Out of Order

As some of you know, I've been dealings with some health issues. So I'm taking time off and staying at home for the next few months. I didn't want to waste my time here and just stay at home. Instead, I decided to go back to undergrad to finish out my bachelor's degree (yes, after I went on to a med school. I seem to live life in reverse haha).

I'm jumping back in to the English major, which is such a drastic switch from the past few years. Because I like to keep things challenging, I'm also looking for/picking up a job. At this point, all of that combined sounds overwhelming.

And then I think back to about 5 years ago: I was a full time student, an RA which could be a full time job, and a paid student intern (state job) where I was working 30hours+/week. So basically, 2 full time jobs + a full time student. What the who!? I can't believe I juggled all of that. It, incidentally, happened to be my best semester in undergrad as well. CRAZY! Let's hope I can get back into the same groove.

Wish me luck!

How old do you have to be to make a difference?

What were you up to at 15? I was a sophomore in high school, hating puberty, loving Tae Kwon Do and whining about Chemistry & Global History classes.

Sophie Brown is, as she puts it, "a 15 year old schoolgirl with a newspaper round." She's up to the usual: going to school, enjoying music and watching TV. But this 15 year old is also up to something extraordinary. A trip to Uganda inspired Sophie to take action and become actively involved in helping children get an education.

It's encouraging to see charity & global thinking continues in the next generation. Western culture has become increasingly consumerist and self-centered. It's hard to think beyond our lives, our immediate world. But our lifestyle is a result of the education we've received over many generations.

Knowledge is a powerful tool and aid in the improvement of a society. Without knowledge, the scope of growth is limited. The benefits of a freely available education are obvious in leading countries such as USA and UK. The ability to attend school and learn should not be a privilege, but a right for every child born in this world.

Sophie is planning a trip back to Uganda in the summer of 2011. More information regarding her trip and goals can be found at her site.

You can help make education for the children of Uganda a reality by supporting Sophie Brown. Whether it is monetary donations, spreading the word or lending a helping hand, every bit counts.

I don't know how many people read my blogs, but if you do, please pass it on so we can help spread the word and raise awareness.