Motivational Issues.

My first two weeks of school weren't terribly awful. This semester, my weeks are super short. They essentially feel like three very packed days, followed by a four-day weekend. The arrangement is pretty nice, except that I am much less likely to get work done early because I feel like I'm on break all the time. I'm sure it doesn't help that I've started the weekend trips, but they keep me sane so I'm not likely to slow them down anytime soon.

On Thursday, I got out of a full day of back-to-back classes and jumped in the car for a seven or eight hour drive to Rhode Island. As always, being with Matt makes everything better, even though I knew I'd have to do the drive backwards and immediately go to class once it was over. Time with him is always worth whatever I have to do to make it happen. I'm really freaking excited that I finally got to see the dæmons play live, and I drove back here last night and this morning feeling very inspired to write again. I really needed the change of scenery, to see Matt before he goes on tour for a month and a half, and the reminder that I can go some places and feel like I belong there.

Rhode Island has seriously grown on me since I started spending more time there with Matt. I love the people and the food and aside from needing to deal with Connecticut traffic, I don't even mind driving there anymore. Saturday night, I ran up to give Brad a hug when he got to the party and he said, "Welcome home." It's really heartwarming how a relatively new place can just feel like home, even if you've only visited for a few weeks. Being at Etown still doesn't give me that feeling, so it's especially nice when I get to experience it in the middle of the semester.

I'm only going to be here for the next three days, so hopefully I'll get all of my reading done without getting too cranky. I'm kind of worried about how it's getting more and more difficult for me to force myself to do everything far enough ahead of time to get in reading responses and study for unnecessarily frequent quizzes on the chapters. I am very close to being done with college and I know I can do it, but now that I've decided not to continue or try for a job in Psychology yet, it's becoming a lot tougher to get all of this work done.

On the bright side, I picked up a ton of mail today and put the new art up on my wall. If I'm lost for reasons to keep smiling this semester, you guys and the things you've sent me will definitely point me in the right direction. I'm trying to figure out the best way to make a video about all of this art, and I don't know if I should wait a bit before I do that. I definitely want to find a clever way to share this with you guys though, because it's one of the coolest things ever having a wall covered with cards that people all over the world decorated and sent to me. Thank you again for doing this for me. :)

I am now approaching the part of the night where I am thinking about how great it would be to go to sleep, but unfortunately, I have another textbook chapter, some Psychology articles, and an outline for a presentation I have to give on Thursday to work on.

14 comments:

Rachel said...

FIRST??? i think.

Just wanted to say that I'm glad school going fine. It sounds like a nice schedule.

I just mailed my index cards today.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no sense an artist but I do obsessively doodle.

shaylaluna

Kara said...

Wow, I had no idea the daemons existed! Thank you!

How much wall space do you have left? I really want to send anything, but I'm really slow (and kinda far), so it would be a while before it gets there.

I know what you mean about school; long weekends just make me dread going back even more. But I know you can do it! (PS - if you're not going for a job in Psychology, how about a Moaning Myrtles world tour? Or at least Canada. :))

'Night!

Sarahalala said...

I hear you on the motivation thing. It is really hard in your last year. I'm a big believer in the weekend trips though! For me, I find that even though they take up schoolwork time, they help me recharge and be happier, which helps me regain my sense of motivation for the next week (well, a little bit).

My index card is coming eventually ... as soon as I hit a break between assignments!

:) Sarah

Ravenclaw2313 said...

Your class schedule sounds kind of light a dream that hides a nightmare. I would love to have the long weekend but I know right where I would end up; trying desperately to cram in all the homework starting at 10pm the night before. Sending you some wall stuff tomorrow. Can't wait for a video that shows it all off.

It's nice that you have had the time to travel to Rhode Island and that it feels so much like home. Maybe with only three days of classes school won't seem so bad.

eibbore said...

Motivation... so hard to come by.

I got Bathroom Acoustics today. So good! XD Thank you and Nina for being so awesome.

Joy said...

Wait on making that video! I'm hoping/planning to send you something soon, I just need to get around to it! :o)

And I feel your pain with studying Psychology. I do love Psychology... sometimes. But people think it's all about really interesting stuff all the time, when sometimes it's just not. It often means reading lots of boring articles and studies and requires knowledge of a whole ton of tedious experiments that are all very similar. Ha.

elfarmy17 said...

Forgive me if I"m absurdly ignorant, but are you dating Matt?
Psychology interests me, but I find philosophy much more appealing.
I completely understand the motivation problem; especially when it comes to the fact that I have four chapters of Great Exoectations (ugh) due Thursday. I'd much rather be reading the rest of Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet. Is it strange that I understand/like Shakespeare better than Victorian literature?

Alex said...

I think the best way to share some of the wall art with us would be to just pick up the mail, set up the camera, and start opening them up. Seeing the reaction from someone when I give them something they like is probably my favorite part of giving things to people.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Sounds tough. But it's nice you have Matt to take your mind off things. I haven't sent my index card yet. I haven't figured out what to put on it, and I need lotsa stamps.

Unknown said...

I live in Rhode Island! Glad you like my state :)

Katiee said...

I agree with Alex. I would absolutely love just a quick video slowly scanning over all of the art when it's done, because I REALLY want to see the whole thing together, and I think it would mean a lot to those participating.

If all works out well, I'll be sending you a postcard soon!

Lauren said...

Eowyngirl17, Matt and I have been dating for over 9 months now!

I filmed myself opening the first 20-ish and putting some of them up on the wall, but there are so many of them now. I'll figure something out for the video!

You guys are so awesome. Thank you for the comments and I'm excited to get the rest of your index cards!

Kaitlyn w/ a K said...

I feel the same way. I'm in my last semester of classes, and none of my classes are very interesting. It's really hard to stay focused. But we can do it!! :-D

On a side note, those fish in the sidebar are surprisingly entertaining.

Unknown said...

I can't wait to see a video with all of the awesome art accumulated in it :D
Hang in there. You can definitley do it.
-Lauren :]
PS The Captcha for this was Mattens haha.

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