Miscellaneous Spring break throughts! =)

[starry_haze]

I just feel happy-in the most uncomplicated way. Don't you love that feeling? *happy sigh* Where to begin?

I loved last quarter; I really did. It was busy and crazy, but I learned so much about myself and how to think. I can honestly say that I liked all my classes (after a boring start in one of them), and each of them taught me valuable life lessons and refined my thinking processes:

• My class on culture and emotion was amazing; I feel that the anthropological theory we learned in that class has completely shaped how I think about all kinds of processes. I love being reminded how nothing truly exists in isolation; everything is embedded and integrated into a web of other ideas, concepts, and entities.
• My class on war was eye-opening and dug deep into issues of identity-my own personal identity and what it means to be American-to see both the best and the worst of human nature.
• My ANTH 102 class featured a stunning book on human empathy, and as the best anthropology classes do, made me think about what it means to be human-what distinguishes us from all other species.
• My class on gender and sexuality was interesting in how it expanded definitions of womanhood and motherhood, and the take-home miderm pulled out some of my best argumentative writing.

Outside of class, I also developed meaningful relationships with several of my professors. God rescued me out of a spiritual low and drew me even closer to Him. He nurtured my relationships with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He helped me conquer procrastination and laziness, and as a result, I churned out a higher number of quality papers than I ever thought was possible.

I almost feel like a different person. I am so much more at peace with my life; I really trust in God and His promises. I trust that God will give me the time, the perseverance, the means, and the strength to accomplish anything; I just need to obey and be willing to put in the hard work and to push through the laziness, the exhaustion, and the struggles.

I have really grown far less lazy; my parents were actually shocked that I did so many chores yesterday without being asked! (Oh yeah, sometimes, I realize that I was pretty spoiled to have not done that many chores growing up...)

I love the feeling of getting things done, making things happen. And even though I have question marks about the future and I still lapse into moments of laziness, I know that everything will work out for good in the end. And that gives me peace. Here is my to-do list for this week (oh, why must spring break be so short?):

• Write prose (!) - It's been way too long!
• Update my blog more often - :)
• Study for the GRE - Gah. The studying never ends! The GRE is supposed to be significantly easier the MCAT, but I should still study for it. *sighs*
• Sing - Break is my time to re-center my voice and get all my coordinations back into equilibrium. Being at school messes my voice up SO much, lol. I'm also trying to eliminate some bad habits in terms of facial expression, constriction, and so on. And my friends and I are going karaoke-ing on Thursday. Yay!
• Read (novels) - I still haven't finished Lord of Light, but I have finished Ender's Game, which I loved.
• Find scholarships to apply to - I really need to stop being lazy about this!
• Figure out what I'm doing in the summer - I have no idea. This happens every year! >.<
• Stay on top of my disciplines - Reading my Bible regularly, washing my face two times a day, brushing my teeth early, doing chores without being asked and with a joyful heart

That will be all for now. I have so many swirling blog entry ideas (I always do), and I realized today that I need to swallow my pride concerning the "types" of entries I prefer writing and understanding that any update is better than no update. ;)

Poke me if I don't write again very soon. =P Much love! ~ Jen ♥