The first week of a new semester is always full of anxiety. Looking at all of the syllabi for all of your new classes makes one feel very unprepared. But it's just the first week jitters. Sure it'll take a week or two to iron out the kinks in your schedule and figure out how to manage your free time, but it all falls into place at some point. That's what I keep reminding myself. Besides, I'm a senior. I've done this so many times now it feels like a way of...life.
That's something I'm ready to be done with for a little while: being a student. Don't get me wrong, I love learning, but after four years I'm just ready to take a little break. A break from all the homework and deadlines and group projects. I'd like to just focus on other things for a while. I'd also like to have the free time on the weekends to read a good book or just relax without the ever present feeling of my unfinished homework bearing down on me.
But that will all come with time, I guess. Right now I have to focus on this new semester and what I need to do to prepare myself for post-graduation. It's a scary thought to be finally getting out there in the real world, but I can't wait. My classes this semester will be very challening, but that is one thing I love about school. I love being challenged. This semester I'm taking a economics class entitled "Quantitative Analysis". We discussed the subject matter in class today and, to tell you the truth, I'm really excited about it. The professor said that this class will be invaluable to those wanting to go to grad school for economics and that the material covered in that class will be helpful in many other ways for an someone hoping to focus their career in economics. I'm stoked. I feel the same way about my other economics class: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory. I also have two German courses. The last two I need to complete my minor.
On the one hand I'm looking forward to finishing my undergraduate years, and on the other hand I still love being a student. I know I'll always love the academic environment. It feeds that need to learn. But everything good thing must come to an end. I'll still be learning after I graduate, just in different ways.
Can't wait.
My old blog: http://gizmo1021.livejournal.com/
- David
- I took the name of this blog from one of my favorite quotes from George Bernard Shaw: "Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." The way I see it, this blog and all of the experiences and stories that I write in it are, collectively, an account of how I go about creating myself in my daily life. My name is David.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
I love Rilke
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Year
2010 is over. Man, what a year that was: studied abroad in Germany, took classes over the summer, faced my hardest semester yet in the fall (and came through with flying colors) and then traveled to Ohio for Christmas with my family. Our trip to Ohio was really fun, and I was able to reconnect with some people that I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was also able to reconnect with my brothers and sisters, whom I also hadn’t seen in a while. But with the family having to take three cars just to get us all up there, and with Dad still dealing with his broken ankle, it was a little bit of an ordeal. Also, not being around your significant other during the holidays is a bit of a bummer. But overall it was a great trip and it was good that we went. Now that the holidays are over I’m looking forward to a new semester…MY LAST SEMESTER! I love learning and I love UNCG, but after four years of the college life, I’m ready to give it a rest for a year or so while I tackle some other endeavors in my life.
At times the year seemed to drag on. Classes took forever; the months seemed to slow down near the end of my time in Germany. And yet here I am, looking at a fresh year ahead. Time flies when you’re having fun…and when you’re taking a full course load, and when you’re working, and, and, and. In my experience time always seems to fly no matter what situation you’re in. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. I’ve been trying to live in the moment more and more, and it seems to have paid off so far. I hope to continue that this year.
2011 is going to be an interesting 365 days, to say the least. I’m going to graduate from UNCG with a Bachelor’s in Economics, I’m going to start working (or interning, or something) and I’m also going to start looking into a graduate school that I’d like to attend in the future. I also don’t plan on moving back in with my parents after I graduate so I’m going to have to procure an apartment or something. Many big decisions will have to be made, but I feel up to the challenge. It is a bit nerve wracking though, knowing I have all of these decisions ahead of me. I love knowing things are going to play out in advance and being able to prepare. But if there is one thing that I have taken from my time in college it’s that you can’t possibly plan for everything. So I’m moving forward with my eyes open, ready to take advantage of any opportunities. I’m going to try and take advantage of the opportunities that come my way without thinking about it too much (some would say overthinking).
The last year has helped me to learn a lot about myself. Knowing that I’m going to finish college has helped propel me towards that. Coming to understand what I want to do with my life, what exactly I want out of life, has helped me to be more assertive with my own desires and wants. Also, understanding the kind of relationship that I have with my girlfriend, and where we want to take that relationship, has also helped me to better focus what I want to do with the life I have. Sometimes I step back and look at all of the decisions I am making, and the ones I’m considering, and wonder if I should really be thinking about these kinds of things. Aren’t these issues ones that I’m supposed to deal with after I’ve graduated, or a little later on in life? Then I realize that my life is at the point of “a little later on” and I need to focus on what’s important and focus on the big issues ahead. Reality checks come in handy.
So anyway…I’m looking forward to a year of progress and a lot of change. It’ll be a little difficult, but change always is. I plan on posting a lot more to this blog, too. That sounds kinda cheesy, doesn’t it? Sounds something like a new year’s resolution to stop smoking or run a marathon or something. It might work, it might not. But when big changes come, I’ll be sure to write about them. That’s a definite.
At times the year seemed to drag on. Classes took forever; the months seemed to slow down near the end of my time in Germany. And yet here I am, looking at a fresh year ahead. Time flies when you’re having fun…and when you’re taking a full course load, and when you’re working, and, and, and. In my experience time always seems to fly no matter what situation you’re in. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. I’ve been trying to live in the moment more and more, and it seems to have paid off so far. I hope to continue that this year.
2011 is going to be an interesting 365 days, to say the least. I’m going to graduate from UNCG with a Bachelor’s in Economics, I’m going to start working (or interning, or something) and I’m also going to start looking into a graduate school that I’d like to attend in the future. I also don’t plan on moving back in with my parents after I graduate so I’m going to have to procure an apartment or something. Many big decisions will have to be made, but I feel up to the challenge. It is a bit nerve wracking though, knowing I have all of these decisions ahead of me. I love knowing things are going to play out in advance and being able to prepare. But if there is one thing that I have taken from my time in college it’s that you can’t possibly plan for everything. So I’m moving forward with my eyes open, ready to take advantage of any opportunities. I’m going to try and take advantage of the opportunities that come my way without thinking about it too much (some would say overthinking).
The last year has helped me to learn a lot about myself. Knowing that I’m going to finish college has helped propel me towards that. Coming to understand what I want to do with my life, what exactly I want out of life, has helped me to be more assertive with my own desires and wants. Also, understanding the kind of relationship that I have with my girlfriend, and where we want to take that relationship, has also helped me to better focus what I want to do with the life I have. Sometimes I step back and look at all of the decisions I am making, and the ones I’m considering, and wonder if I should really be thinking about these kinds of things. Aren’t these issues ones that I’m supposed to deal with after I’ve graduated, or a little later on in life? Then I realize that my life is at the point of “a little later on” and I need to focus on what’s important and focus on the big issues ahead. Reality checks come in handy.
So anyway…I’m looking forward to a year of progress and a lot of change. It’ll be a little difficult, but change always is. I plan on posting a lot more to this blog, too. That sounds kinda cheesy, doesn’t it? Sounds something like a new year’s resolution to stop smoking or run a marathon or something. It might work, it might not. But when big changes come, I’ll be sure to write about them. That’s a definite.
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