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Week #52: ONE YEAR BLOGGING + AWESOME MONDAY

Wow, how can I start describing this week's Monday? It all started with a good pee in the morning when I checked in the grade I got for my second economics exam, and I say good pee because I got 23/20! That more than an A and my GPA for that class went from 70something to 90! Class was boring... yeah, but I'm feeling so good. For physics, we got to get out early because we finished all the material for the final. Then I went to the library to study for my calculus final test, and stopped by Starbucks first. I was wearing my Superman shirt, and the cashier wrote in my cup 'super girl'; that seriously made my day even brighter. I study calculus for a few hours, and this is the readiest I've felt for a calculus II exam. I didn't do horrible but I do think I could have done better, I'm almost sure I got more than half right. When I came back Kaitlyn reminded me we had a Hall meeting for check out next week, and afterwards some of the suite mates came to our room to hang out. I finished my leadership paper and then chill out. It was a really good Monday despite how I did in calculus, and it for sure is the best Monday of the term, since it's the second to last and in the next one I have two finals. And I finally got to experience one of those girl nights with my suite mates talking about sex... Of course I didn't have much to contribute to the discussion but this is what I imagined college to be like, it was pretty entertaining.


On Tuesday I went to my last leadership class! It was bittersweet, I'll miss my classmates. This class was one of the best classes I've had (if not the best). I returned my Leadership book to the library and bought a new USF hoodie to retire the old one :) I also went for a run but it wasn't that good of a run... I wasn't just feeling it, I had been in the cold of my bedroom and came from an intense 5k. I just hope I pick it up on Thursday. Today is homework and paper night, yay! Since I finally solved my calculus project I can now write about it. I also registered for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon! Taking place January 10th, 2015 :)

On Wednesday I finished my last physics homework with Courtney at the library! And I also got my calculus II test back, I got higher than the average which was 58, I got a 60 LOL! Anyways, I'm actually happy with that 60 haha. I've written half of my calculus paper, which is what's going to save me this semester if I do well. 

On Thursday I got up early and headed to International Plaza, I took the HART bus and got there in an hour and 10 minutes which is really not that bad. I got my feet fitted, and it turns out that I overpronate, and have a medium arch so I got fixed to a running show that will help me balance my weigh evenly. And after trying out that shoe I could really feel the empty gap in my old Asics. I bought the Asics Gel Kayano 20. And since I was in the mall I went to Forever 21 and bought a couple more leggins and a really cute headband :) I also bought my mom some leggins because she asked for. I had Burger King for lunch and it was totally disgusting... It tasted so bad, and I don't think it was because something went wrong, but because it's been so long since I've had Burger King. I finally ran a decent distance, 8.25 km, and with my new running shoes. They felt pretty comfortable but I could feel the heaviness in my legs. Also I felt some impact in the front part of the bottom of my feet. Nevertheless, I feel happy I ran that far :)

On Friday I woke up early because I was planning on going to the last optional session for physics but I decided not to go, I was also gonna meet with Ricardo to study economics but we didn't have enough time before his next class so I did the majority of the take home exam that morning. I was also going to meet up with Courtney but she stayed at home to finish her calculus paper. This is going to be an all nighted night at the library. I have to finish my economics take home exam, study economics, study physics, finish my calculus paper and write my economics globalization paper. And I kinda want to finish all that tonight, kill me right?

RUNNING UPDATE

I MIGHT be going crazy, or "half crazy", because I just registered in Walt Disney World's Half Marathon for next year! I haven't even ran the 10-miler in October and I'm already aiming for 3 miles more. I feel a rush of excitement flowing through my veins, but I like having those exact goals in mind. 

The race is January 10th, 2015 at 5:30 am! And this time I'm going by myself, not like the one in October where my mom is coming with me. This means I will have to practice all the time and not slip, because if I do I'm toasted. 

I was between this half marathon and the Princess Half Marathon, but I chose the Walt Disney World one because the Princess' collided with the Gasparilla 8k (or maybe 10k, I don't remember). I know Gasparilla cannot be compared with the Princess Half Marathon but I have three more years to run every race :)

QUOTES #13

WHY DO PEOPLE HATE MONDAYS?

What have Mondays personally do to you? Yeah, I know, you have to go to work or school; but that's not Monday's fault, that's your government/boss/principal's fault. If Monday was a person, he/she would be pretty sad about all the hatred toward her (let's assume is a girl). I know I'm in good terms with Mondays right now because I've had a good one, but I do admit that I will hate it back again next week because I have two finals. 

The point is, Monday has done nothing intentionally to harm you. So stop intentionally harming her. Spreading negativity and disgust toward her will make it worse. Even though you are having a bad Monday (remember it's not Monday's fault), show a appreciation towards her because she gave you another day to do something for your life. 

We should all love Mondays, because she loves us. She puts up with all the hate she receives throughout the year (heck, every single minute), and still serves as the day we all get our shit done. She sacrificed her freedom for all the other days of the week, and accepted the wave of negativity so the other days could receive a little love from you. Think about it, thanks to Monday, Tuesdays are not that hated and it gradually grows until Sunday. 

Thank you Monday, for giving us a day to be productive and a reason to love all the other days of the week. Just don't forget, that although we speak badly about you, we still appreciate your existence. 

MY FIRST 5K!

Today I ran my first ever 5k! It was the HARE Racing Experience by the Epilepsy Service Foundation in the USF Track and Field Stadium. I signed up literally a couple of weeks before the race, thinking it would be a great way to start warming up for my big 10-miler in October. I never thought it would be such big of a race, and as well organized. It was pretty neat actually, the t-shirts look cool, we were time-chipped, and the racing packet had pretty cool stuff. 

 I got there with my mind set on finishing under 40 minutes, I started off at what I consider a good pace, but when my first update from Nike Run told me I was running under 7 min/km I automatically slowed down because I didn't want to burn out. I took about three walk breaks, and finished the race in 34 minutes, that's 6 minutes under my time goal! With an average pace of 6'50 min/km, which is tremendously faster than my normal pace that is around 7'50 min/km. 

I ranked 6th place in my age group category, that is from 15 - 19 :) And for my first 5k I feel so proud of myself. Specially because I just started running this February, that's less than three months ago! And I started running with 2 km, barely 3 km at the start. Now a days I can reach 8k if I work hard!

Planning on running another 5k before the 10-miler, maybe an Asics race back in Panama :) That would be nice. Got a lot of training ahead of me :)

Week #51: CERTIFIED LEADER (04.14.14 - 04.18.14)

I had a bit of a late start on Monday, I thought I would have a head start in the morning because I woke up half an hour earlier to finish my economics homework, but halfway to the dining hall I realized I forgot my keys so I had to go back... So I really had a 'butt start' if you can call that something. I didn't finish the economics homework but I did copied for Victoria the one nobody got. I got my Forever 21 package and also the three pairs of running socks I ordered. The socks feel fine, I'll be testing them tomorrow though. At 5:15 pm I headed to the MSC because it was the "Celebration of Leadership" i.e. my Certified Leadership ceremony, sadly I had to leave early because I had class at 7 pm and I feel so bad! At least I understood what we were doing in calculus II. I had Pollo Tropical for dinner, and I feel so bad eating outside food. I wanted to go to the grocery store today but had no time at all, I just want to eat my fruit now (and I feel great just wanting to eat fruit). I also got a letter from Alex! I swear to you that just before picking up the letter I was thinking on writing to her wishing her luck in her finals, I haven't told her I received the letter, I'm gonna send her a response through mail. She basically wrote to me that she supported me in every decision I made and not to stress and she absolutely calmed me down. Although that was a week ago, that letter made me feel so much better. I'm so lucky to have a friend like her.

I had my last physics lab class on Tuesday, and it was our physics lab final. I think I did good, the bonus question was really hard but everything else felt easy. Since I got out early I went to the STEM lab to get some help in my calculus II project, and there were no tutors when I got there; but this nice guy helped me out. He looked like a junior or a senior and helped me a lot, and he was nice too :) I had to stop by the computer store to buy another charger for my laptop because I forgot mine in Panama -.-' It cost $80! I'm so sad :( I got a package from Amazon with my LifeProof case, the LifeProof armband, the GoPro Hero 3+ Silver and two mounts. I got a lot of stuff, lol. Plus I got some of it at discount because of my free six months of Amazon Prime. I went for a run with all my new gadgets. The LifeProof case is amazing compared to the one I had for the 4S, it's so light and not bulky at all. I carried the GoPro in my hand, I uploaded a video here. I ran 8 km! 

On Wednesday I was attended by the rudest cashier ever at Subway... She left the cash register with me standing in front of her, a co worker had to call her back telling her she had costumers; she came mad and did what she was supposed to do. I asked for a plastic bag to put my food in and she literally threw everything in it... I just hate the attitude some people radiate, you don't have to let everybody know how mad you are, specially at work. I did half the physics homework with Courtney since it's due next week and we haven't seen the other half of the material. Then I went to my calculus class and it wasn't boring at all, I understood most of it and I actually feel prepared for the test; but of course I need to study and kill myself practicing this weekend.

On Thursday, Kaitlyn woke me up... at around 9 am -.-' I went to the International Services today to get my visa signed in because it's that time of the year, although I'm not sure if I was supposed to get it signed because I'm still not sure if I'm staying over the summer. Then I went to Dr. Campbell (advisor who assigned my calculus II project) to show him my work to see if I was on the right path, and he helped a lot. Apparently I was not on the right path, but the questions he asked me I was able to answer. So when I got back I did this insane table on Excel and I think I found the answer. I went for a run, and felt super tired, also the impact of my feet was too harsh' that's a sign I need new running shoes. I ran 8.06 km though, and then I went to Starbucks to buy myself a reward. I ordered a Shaken Passion Iced Tea Lemonade blended, and it was AMAZE-BALLS! The cashier asked me three times if I was sure I wanted it blended haha. 

On Friday I went to an orientation for my study abroad program in Florence, I didn't learn anything out of the ordinary but it wasn't that boring because Jim is so funny. I was stuck in there for three hours! There was even a Tornado Warning while in there, but by the time we got out it was all clear. I went to the library then to study calculus with Courtney, we were supposed to go see Captain America today after studying but Courtney said she wouldn't be able to because she had to wake up early for work the next day. It was a really uneventful day, but I'm so excited because tomorrow is my first 5k! And I'm also done with this shit (freshman year) in a week! 

TRYING MY NEW GOPRO

So, I bought a GoPro... Enrique asked if I could bring him one back to Panama when going to Patty's Quinceaños and I brought it to him. I mentioned it to my grandpa and he wanted a GoPro so bad. When my grandpa likes something, it's because it's good. I looked up online and really liked what I saw; plus I can use it in my trip to Europe and in the Disney race. 

So this is my first try with the GoPro, I bought the Chesty and the headband but I didn't want people looking at me so I just held it (bad idea, but it was just a test so it doesn't really matter). 

BLOG ANNIVERSARY

OMG, I just missed this blog's anniversary date! It was yesterday! Although, yesterday was a pretty packed day because I flew from Panama to Tampa and I was extremely tired. 

Anyway, Happy Birthday Pit Stop to Wonderland! It's been an amazing journey with you, and may you have lots and lots of years to come. This is actually the longest I've kept a blog/journal for and I'm pretty stinking proud. 

PATTY'S 15 RECAP

Here are the few photos I took at Patty's Quinceaños (OMG, I just learned how to type ñ! lol). Anyways, I hung out with Brandon the first third, filmed the party the second third, and hung out with Yoyi the last third :) It was a fun party, it had tons of candy, a Photo Booth, themed cupcakes, and weird colored drinks. I really liked my outfit and I did my own make up!

Week #50: Driving in USA and going to Panama! (04.07.14 - 04.12.14)

On Monday I did my usual... Econ class, then physics and then calculus. I received a packet with the shirt I'm gonna use for the Disney 10-Miler! It's a t-shirt made out of bamboo technology Something like that, and it says Mad Hatter on the front (from Alice in Wonderland) and it has the hat in the back with RUN written under it. It looks pretty neat, and it "glows" in the dark, we'll see haha. I also got my Enterprise Car Share card, which means I can now drive! :D I still don't know when will be my first ride but I'm thinking of Monday after I come back from Panama to do some grocery shopping. 

On Tuesday I got the chance to sleep until noon because I had no physics lab but I ended up waking at 9:15 am... What bothers me is that I went to bed at around 2:30 am because I was finishing the fourth Harry Potter book and I really wanted the extra sleep, but oh well. This whole morning I've been looking into degree works and internships I could take next year, and I'm getting really depressed because my GPA is going to drop a lot thanks to calculus II and economics :( What if nobody hires me? I don't even see hiring material in me... Well I was finally able to register for Fall classes and I'm so happy because I got the schedule I wanted!!! Minutes before registering I search the calculus III class to see how many seats were left and it said 0, but when I registered I got a seat! I think they opened a couple of seats for the students registering today, either way, this has made me so happy! I also drove for the first time in the states! I was so nervous but the minute I backed out from the parking lot it felt like just any other day driving :) I went to Target to buy a trifold for my leadership presentation because the bookstore didn't have any and the trifold ended up looking good :) I was about to skip running this evening because when I finished my trifold it was already 7:30 pm and the sunset was at around 7:50 but I made up my mind last minute because if I skipped this one I would regret it. And so I went and ran 7.5k :)

On Wednesday I woke up an hour earlier to study for the economics quiz our teacher told us about the day before... I did half of the homework at the dining hall in preparation for the quiz and I think I did good on the quiz. I also got my grade from physics back :( I got a 75... And I had 78 on the two previous exams... If I slip I will end up with a C on that class. I did the physics homework due Monday with Courtney at the library after physics and I skipped calculus yet again. We finished the homework and parted ways, and I came to do my laundry. I also printed out my flight ticket! I'm so excited I'm going back to Panama for the weekend! :)

Finally Thursday! I woke up at 3:45 and my shuttle got here early so I rushed to Holly Dr. and he wasn't there... He was kind of lost and I found him in the parking lot next to the MSC in front of the College of Arts. I got to the airport super early, and got to my gate around an hour or two prior boarding time. I had Popeye's for breakfast at 5 am because I was starving and catch up on some reading (Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix). I got lucky that the seat in the middle of my flight was empty, for a second I thought I had the whole row to myself but after the doors closed a gringo sat on the aisle seat. I think that wasn't his assigned seat thought, because he sat when we were preparing to take off and he knew the guy across the aisle. Damn him, I could have had the whole row to myself. When I landed my mom and grandparents came to pick me up and we went to Sheraton to eat sancocho where we met with my aunt too :) After that I went to me grandma's house to chill until Patty and her friends had dance practice for the choreography. We went to the local where the party is gonna be held and it looked cool. The decorations where halfway through and it looked really nice. It pained me that they used the pictures Patty took with another photographer and I think mine were far more better but oh well. Then my dad came and we three went to dinner at 'Leños y Carbon' which was yummy :) When I came back home I Skyped with Rod until my mom interrupted our call short. I also finished the whole box of the Soccer World Cup album stickers and then went to bed after a very VERY tiring day.

On Friday I woke up after noon and had my usual for lunch! Mac and cheese with chicken strips! I love it. I went to my grandma's house to take Patty and her friends to the venue, and while we were waiting to go there I finished my second box of stickers for my Soccer World Cup sticker album. I only have 100 stickers to go. I saw Carlos, the choreographer, I missed him so much! I also helped with the decorations, specially in the candy house Tia Rosa was making. 

On Saturday I woke up at 7:15 am because me and my friends were going to El Parque Omar to run some, of course only Tommy, Andrew and I ran while the others walked. We had breakfast at the Golden Unicorn, some yummy dim sum; but it was kind of awkward... Nobody was talking and it was cut short because Lionel had to leave... Yeah, that wasn't my idea of a fun day with the gang. After dropping Tommy at his house, Rod and I went to get some ice cream and they finally had the strawberry-vanilla combination! It's been years since I have had that. When I came back home and showered my dad took me to see my grandma. We had a good time, we read the chinese newspaper and talk for a while and then I came home. Today's Patty's Quinceanos! So see you next week :)

I also did my make up for the first time, following some Youtube video tutorials, Alex told me it was better off with the light colored lip stick but I actually like the red one. I don't know which one to use for the party, I guess we'll see. 

ENGINEERING MAJOR DEPRESSION CHEAT SHEET

We all engineers feel overwhelmed, stressed, good for nothing, and worthless when at college. We are overwhelmed with work, stressed about how hard it is, and how you are not done yet when you haven't procrastinated. Frustrated with the world because your GPA is dropping like crazy since you started doing all-science semesters. 

Here's a cheat sheet for whenever you feel overwhelmed, stressed or frustrated. 

1. For whenever you feel overwhelmed:
Remember to take a break, even if you feel like if you take a break you won't be able to finish, you won't be ale to finish if you take that break. So just don't procrastinate, but don't overwork either. Also try working with groups, they can make you laugh while doing work and it doesn't feel as tedious. 

2. For whenever you feel you won't get a job because of your grades:
Engineering majors are hard man, that's all I can tell you. Just focus on passing and obtaining that degree. 
In case you feel that even with a degree you won't get a decent job:

3. When you get tired of self teach yourself due to the lack of good professors:
Just feel good about the fact that you can learn by yourself, and might someday play that card in a job interview so they can see that you can self-learn. 

4. When you feel you are going to fail a class:
People fail classes, and that's normal. Just remember that this is a trial and error step in your life and if you screw up you'll always have next semester to take the class again. And since you had previous knowledge about the subject you'll do good. The world won't end because you fail one class and you shouldn't care what other people think about that because it's your life and your struggles. 

5. When you feel everybody around you is doing better than you:
Just focus on the fact that you are passing the class, and in the case you are not, don't be shy and ask your classmates for help. There will always be that smart Asian kid, you just focus on you. 

6. When you feel unsure about getting a job graduating from a mediocre university:
https://medium.com/career-pathing/1a47523d07b1

7. When you don't get accepted into the internship/job you wanted:
Just keep searching, and applying to everything and anything you see. Your first internship/job will unlikely be the one you really one. If you don't get accepted in any, start you own thing like an app, or a program, or volunteer in a non-profitable project. Just don't stop working. 

So whenever you feel sad, depressed, frustrated, overwhelmed, or stressed. Read through this list, and if needed research more about other people who have felt what you are feeling right now. 

You are not alone. 

FALL 2014 SCHEDULE

I finally got to register for Fall 2014! And it had me worried because last time I was in the first lot of students to register, while this time they backed me up a couple of weeks. I'm guessing it's because of my number of credit hours and my GPA that went down from 3.75 to 3.67 :( Anyway, I got the schedule I wanted! I was worrying because minutes before being able to register I saw that the Calculus III class I wanted was already full, but somehow I was able to join that class. 

I'm also worried, because if I fail Calculus II what will happen to my Calculus III class? Will it drop itself automatically? I'm worried about that but at the same time so grateful that I have my desired schedule for now. 

Here it is: 

I decided to take classes in the morning rather than the evenings, and I learned my lesson about 7:00 pm classes. However, there was one class I had to take at 5:00 pm because I had no where else to put it. I'm so ready to wake up early in the mornings and get on with my day. What really worries me though, is that fact that I have four classes on Mondays! And blimey, it had to be Monday didn't it? Nevertheless I really like my schedule. I won't have Thursdays and Fridays free anymore but at least I only have one class each day :)

MY OPINION ON RUNNING SCHEDULES

It happened to me, when you are in Pinterest and you randomly decide you want to run to lose weigh when you see one of those 'Running for Beginners' or 'From Couch Potato to 5k' posts. I started doing the 'From Couch Potato to 5k' and it was in a 5 week lapse I think, I was doing fine at the beginning bur the repetitions where getting more and more intense and if I couldn't keep up with the pre-scheduled routine I would feel depressed. The thing is, those schedules are not fitted for a human being, or well, maybe for yourself. You gotta go with what fits you, and makes you feel comfortable but at the same time challenged. 

What I did was that I just went for a run, after deciding on quitting the 'From Couch Potato to 5k' and I saw that I could run 5k at my own pace. So every now and then I push it up 0.25 km more and try to run more and walk less, or to run faster. Since then I've been increasing my distance tremendously fast. I started doing that on March 7th, and today, almost a month after I increased two whole kilometers. It may not sound as a big difference but it is for me. 

I usually go out and run three times a week because of my packed schedule, and since opting out of the trail and just running around campus it's been wonderful. I also created two new playlists to listen while running because if you do too much of the same it can get boring. I created a Disney oriented playlist when I feel motivated about my Disney run on October and another one with just different songs than my first playlist. Now, the campus just seems to small to run around. I now have to enter dead end streets to cover some of the mileage I wanna run. 

12 THINGS THAT SUCK ABOUT BEING A LATINO IN USA

I came to the US to study and almost all my friends are gringos, here's a list of things that suck about being a latino in the US. 

1. It's awkward when you say goodbye, nobody kisses you in the cheek or hugs you. 

2. You are not used to so many different types of weather. 

3. When you go to a Mexican restaurant you have to pronounce 'burrito', 'taco', and 'nachos' the gringo way or they won't understand what you're saying. 

4. Nobody laughs at your jokes because you use latino references.

exactly...

5. People look at you because you move your hands a lot when you talk. 

6. iMessage? I use WhatsApp. 

7. Sometimes people don't understand when you say homophones because of your accent/pronunciation. 

8. There's not much homey food around here, only fast food. 

9. So many turning lanes looks complicated. 

10. You are the only one that actually knows the lyrics to 'Macarena'. 

11. It's so expensive going to the movies!

12. It takes a minimum of 20 minutes to go anywhere, everything is so far apart.