Right Before Finals

Just for the record, I'm writing this entry about a month after all these things happened (although the date says differently).

Basically, around the time that finals were going on, my mind was far from the tests that were coming up, and I'm very grateful for that. There were new things coming into my life, which I'll talk about in another entry, but they eventually would help me get through all the tough things that were soon to come. (Hence, one of my last entries...)

My last real day of class was a Friday, since my classes on the Monday before Finals were canceled, and my professor had the nerve to schedule a quiz for that afternoon during class. Now, of course I was thinking to myself "I really don't want to do this..." but the other part of me was saying "Just do it". Then the first part of me thought "But they drop a quiz! This could be the quiz they drop and you're golden for the rest of the afternoon!" However, Jeff got the best of me and convinced me to go to class and at least see how it was. Good thing I went, because the quiz was.... EASY! It was one of those times where you read all the questions, only had to answer a couple of them, but knew the answers to all of them. It was one of the most glorious moments I've had in college.

At the end of class, I went to turn in my quiz, and my GSI was there to say goodbye to me and give me some graded quizes and stuff back to me. Not gonna lie, he was pretty hot, and it made the whole last class soooo much better with him being the last person I saw. Just a detail I felt I needed to add in... haha.

In generale, the last few weeks of Spring semester were full of doors opening, as far as my future career goes. As I'll explain more fully in another entry, I started working for another GSI, Teresa, at the end of the semester, and it opened my eyes to how archeology is actually practiced. It was a totally different lab experience as far as the type of work done. Before, I'd been transcribing microfilm documents in the basement of the ARF (Archaeological Research Facility), and wasn't finding it very fun or very interesting. It did have its good points, but working with ceramics and curved glass was MUCH more interesting. I can't describe to you the fun I had in the lab, and how learning about different artifact types has changed my view of becoming an archaeologist. Basically, the transcribing made me dislike the whole subject, but actually looking at different things for once helped me see everything in a more positive light.

The funny thing about working in the lab with GSIs and other students, was hearing all the GSI gossip that was going around. Nothing really negative was ever said, but it was really cool to finally see that the grad students I only saw once or twice a week also had a life outside of class. Finally: GSIs aren't just randoms! I was surprised how much I was able to talk to the grad students after just a couple weeks of hanging out in the lab, and I'm so glad that I feel that I can approach them as people now. There's no reason now to feel intimidated by them.

The best day I think I ever had at the lab was during the couple dead days before finals, and I had been labeling artifacts for a couple hours, talking a lot to Teresa. I was totally not even thinking about studying, which might have hurt me; but I was learning things in lab that I would never have another chance of grasping until the Fall. I felt that studying some of the day and doing lab work the rest of the day actually made me in a better overall mood than I usually would have been in during that time. So, it was justified.

Later that afternoon, Teresa had to go for a little while, so I was sitting in silence for about another hour in the lab. Of course, there were other grad students working in the other surrounding rooms, but I never really saw any of them. Suddenly I started hearing music from the lab next door. Turns out Grad students need music to keep them going, too (although I'd forgotten my ipod that day). Now, this was also around the time when I had downloaded a few Animal Collective songs, and was listening to them so much I could play them back in my head. I was surprised that this music wasn't coming from within me, but from the other room. Ironically, it was one of those songs that I'd just downloaded. So, not only did I have a great time hanging out with Teresa, but in her absence I got to listen to some of my favorite music.

I really hope I got everything down that I'd meant to write. It would be a shame to have left anything out, but such is the forgetfulness that results from waiting to do these things...

Go Bears!