eating the elephant one bite at a time

So it's April. Spring is here, warm weather is here, Little 500 is coming up and the end of school is approaching. It's almost the best time of the year. Except every professor schedules big final projects and papers around this time and mine are no exception.
Before the end of the month, I have to write a1000 word story, complete with interviews, photos and audio clips for a journalism class, read a book and write a final paper for 158, write a 12-14 pg paper (or find some other way to do the project but I'm not creative so I'm not sure how that will happen) about careers in sports journalism, and study for a final in another sports journalism class.
What I've learned in the past few months is that if I focus on everything at one time, I'll freak out and probably just give up. So what I am doing now is focusing on one thing at a time and getting as much of it done before I start another assignment. It's still stressful, but I think I'll fair better than freaking out on everything at once.
Good luck to anyone else who has a lot to do before the end of the semester. Let's try not to get overwhelmed!

Slow death...

This time last month, during the Super Bowl actually, I was coughing up a lung and using entire kleenex boxes in the span of a day. After two weeks I thought I was over it. Wrong. Now that I have a million things to do before spring break, I am right back to coughing up my lungs. So today I'd had enough. I planned to get up early this morning, get to the Immediate Care Center, get some antibiotics and finally get healthy. Sounds reasonably easy right? Of course not. As I walked in, I realized there was not a single seat left in the waiting room and it was only 11 am. Checking in was an issue since my wallet had been stolen and I no longer had my insurance card. After my mother faxed over the insurance information, I finally finished checking in and the nurse suggested I wait out in my car since the waiting room was so full. Waiting in the car wasn't such an issue as I originally thought it would be since it was so nice out today. However, an hour and a half sitting in the car is a little too much. Finally I was seen by the doctor and was told I had an upper respitory infection. He wrote me prescriptions for antibiotics and I was promptly on my way to Walgreens to get them filled. This whole ordeal ended at roughly 3:00. It's 12:31 am right now and I'm awake because I still can't stop coughing. So yes, this entire blog was one giant rant about how I don't feel well, went to the doctor which turned out to be an all day adventure, and I still don't feel well. Sometimes, especially when you're sick, you just have to rant. Bring on the Nyquil!

An Uphill Battle

You'd think blogging is something a journalism major would find fun or easy. Not this journalism major. Although I enjoy writing, I am better at it when it isn't about myself. Finding things to talk about on here is becoming a bit of a struggle for me. But seeing as how this is an assignment for a class geared towards students struggling in school, I guess talking about this past academic year would be a good start.
So this semester is my first one back at IU. The first year I was here was overwhelming. Suddenly after 2 years of college, I really had to work at it. But I didn't. I've always been a student who could coast along without really putting much effort in. Well, you can't do that at IU and plan to stay long. I was dismissed after summer school and I spent last semester back home in Indianapolis. If you think it's bad telling your parents you failed a class, try telling them you flunked out of school. It's not pretty.
Now that I'm back, I've made it a mission to get my GPA back up not only because it's required, but to prove to myself that I can do it. I learned a lot by being dismissed, and hopefully everyone who reads this will learn from my mistakes and not learn the hard way.
One thing that I've changed so far is actually going to class. Even though it is a struggle sometimes, I get my butt out of bed and go. That alone, has made a complete difference. Instead of not going and feeling guilty and worried about what I missed and assignments that need to be turned in and information I'm missing that will be on tests, I feel calm. Well, calmer.
Motivation is something that comes and goes at times. Do I always feel like doing homework, no. Who does? But I make myself get it done ON TIME. I realized by that turning in assignments late only means having less time to work on the next one and trust me, it's a never ending cycle and it can keep you up at night.
Something I am still working on is procrastination. That is my biggest weakness. When I get home from class, I feel like I've accomplished something for the day and need to take it easy the rest of the night. Homework will still be there tomorrow, right? Yeah it'll be there alright; it'll be there for the next couple days haunting me! There are days when I get everything done in one night, or I start on something early, but it's an uphill battle.
So here's to turning over a new leaf, and keeping it that way!

Daredevil Gymnastics

When someone mentions gymnastics, what do you think? Whenever I mention anything about the sport, I am immediately bombarded with the same questions every time: “So you must be really flexible?” “Wow, do you think you’ll make it to the Olympics?” “So you can do flips and stuff, right?” Every so often I’ll hear something about the “little outfits” that gymnasts wear. I have even been told that gymnastics is not a sport. Basically, I’ve learned that many people think it’s cool when you can do a flip, but don’t really take gymnastics seriously.

I came across this video with my friend, Shayna, and thought it was pretty cool. It's not "traditional" gymnastics but it's pretty amazing and it shows how strong gymnasts really are. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr3npyxj7u0

Technology Retarded

So I've decided to no longer use my blog account at tumblr. Why? Because I am the WORST person with technology... seriously. I can't count how many times my boyfriend has stared at me completely dumbfounded as to why I can't figure out how to put songs on my Ipod. Yep, I am part of the most technology savvy generation and can't work an Ipod, or create (and delete) a blog account. It's pretty embarrassing. So this is the blog I'll be using for X158. If you were following me on tumblr, just delete it.