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! 

FIRST SEMESTER ABROAD

This week concludes my first semester abroad, my first 4 months away from my family and friends. I have learned so many things and have turned into a very independent woman. From going grocery shopping to paying for my books and classes. I learned how to deal with people, I tried my hardest to be extrovert rather than introvert (I tried at least) and I realized how much I care about my family now that I'm gone.

Some things I learned from my first semester abroad:

ROOMMATES:
- You will probable get stuck with a noisy roommate and you'll have to learn how to communicate your feelings toward her/his behavior.
- It always happen to me that I'm the messy one, so I should keep up with my game.
- Sharing is caring, I don't know what I would have done without my roommate's microwave and fridge.

CLASSES:
- Never miss a class, even if you don't pay attention at all because there's always something you'll catch up.
- Be early if possible. That way you can compare notes with classmates or make new friends.
- Schedule your school work per week, and very detailed.
- Don't be afraid of going to the library, that's the best place to focus.

FOOD:
- Don't eat pizza everyday.
- Make use of the salad bar.
- Don't waste your money if you have free meals at the dining hall.

NEW COUNTRY:
- Lock your passport and money in a safety box.
- Remember to sign the I-20 before leaving.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
- Text your mom everyday about your whereabouts and achievements.
- Text your friends and just talk about non sense.
- Skype with your grandparents at least once.
- Buy them gifts when you come back :)

There's was a point in the semester where I thought I was not going to make it, where I was considering changing majors, and where I could not just keep up with the work. However, I ended up with high grades and a very happy ending, considering the fact that I didn't change my major or had a failed class.
I also made a couple of friends, which is a very rare improvement for me. One of them is kind of close and I feel good about it. I still feel anxiety when it comes to hang outs or social events but I'm putting myself out there and that's the important thing.

Week #28: Thor: The Dark World (11/04/13-11/11/13)

On Monday I woke up at 7:45 am to register for classes for Spring 2014! It's weird that I can register from November 4th when I'm not in the Honors College because the only ones that can register this early for classes are the ones in athletics and Honors College. I think I'm able to register this early because of the number of credits I enrolled with and my current GPA. Chemistry was really a drag, every class makes me realize even more how little I'll use chemistry when I grow up. I had an American Studies test today and I think I did pretty well. I met up with Courtney before calculus to finish our calculus homework and we finished! Well, I finished. Well, actually I did a little bit over 90% but I'm really ok with that. At 7:30 I went to the Engineers Without Borders meeting to talk about the color run and met someone from Honduras, and we bonded a bit, her name's Rina. She noticed I was latino when I rolled my tongue for the R in her name.


On Tuesday we had to hand in our midterm report for project #2 for Foundations of Engineering lab and we didn't know, lucky us our professor is awesome any gave us until this Friday to hand it in. I went to the library to do my chemistry homework and did a great amount without getting distracted or buying Starbucks! Today I had my last class of foundations of engineering! I'll have more relaxing weeks now ahead, after foundations I met up with Ricardo and Victoria to discuss what we were going to do for the chemistry lab and we are totally lost. I began watching Grey's Anatomy in mid September and now am in the 9th season, this is the last season Netflix has and I'm kind of sad :( Grey's Anatomy has been so intense! I definitely love this series.

On Wednesday I had good ol' french toasts for breakfast :D chemistry was boring as usual as well as american studies. At noon I went to a leadership lunchtime, which should be my last if I did my math right and the spokesman told us something that really made me think hard, he told us to work or in this case learn for a challenge not for passion, he says that if you are good in something you should keep doing it because being good will make you wanna love it. He does makes sense and that makes me more secure with my major choice actually. After calculus I met up with Chad and Nick and we did a pretty good job, we decided to do my idea for project #2. For project #2 we have to design either a household tool or a children's toy and my idea was a slinky hanging from the ceiling with your phone stick to it, that way if you wanna text someone in the middle of the night you don't have to reach to your nightstand or find your phone through your sheets.

Thursday, this is the real day I look up to every Monday because these are my easy days. We successfully finished the lab knowing exactly what to do, I feel bad though because I feel Victoria is the one doing all the smart stuff (calculations and graphs), Ricardo is the good one with the Spectrometer's software, and I'm just writing the data down. I feel so useless, then again, I'm bad a chemistry so I've always been useless. After lab Victoria and I stop by the Samsung kiosk that's been on campus the whole week giving cellphones, tablets, gift cards and accessories. I feel like I went for nothing because all I got was a speaker, what I really wanted was the gift cards.

On Friday I had Jamba Juice for lunch, I like having smoothies for lunch but Jamba Juice is so freaking expensive! a $6.90 smoothie are you serious? Might as well buy 3 orders of chicken nuggets at Chick-Fil-A! One of the reasons I wanna got to Panama so bad is to finally try out my brand new bullet blender that's been waiting for me since August. At 2:30 I met up with Courtney and went to the movies at AMC! We saw Thor and it was so fun! We didn't have one single awkward moment, I love her :) The movie was awesome too, it was so unexpected; omg I just love Loki. We got lost a couple of times haha but it was a fun evening :)

Courtney as a Mickey in her car! It's
so cute!

Week #26: I LOVE CHEMISTRY LAB (10/21/2013 - 10/27/2013)

On Monday I had my first salad I've had in a long time for lunch and it was surprisingly good. After calculus I went to the MSC with Courtney for dinner, apparently we are in Homecoming week and we got free sandwiches :) There is going to be a ton of stuff to do this week, things I would love to go to (the parade and the carnival) but it's simply not the same without your friends. I ate some Chick-Fil-A for dinner while we did our math homework together. After that we went to the Engineers Without Borders meeting for our essay we have to write for Foundations of Engineers Lab class, and we mostly discussed about a color run they are doing to raise funds. I always have a good time with Courtney :)


On Tuesday I was suppose to go out for a run in the morning but I went back to sleep.. And to top it off I had kind of an unhealthy dinner, I had so many carbs :( At noon I was suppose to skype with Alex but she couldn't because something happened with her dad, my package from Forever 21 came though so that recompensed the skype date. I was so afraid I wouldn't like anything I ordered, surprisingly I loved it all! I ordered another onesie! This one with a zipper and it's so fluffy and cozy, I love it! I also got a new pair of snickers that look so good :) And I also got a blue dress that I love, maybe I'll use it for my grandpa's surprise birthday party in December. After Foundations of Engineering I met up with Ricardo and Victoria to plan out our oral presentation for chemistry lab, David was suppose to come too but apparently he dropped the class. We figured out what to do in about 5 minutes and then went to Subway to laugh and complain about David while having dinner. I really like my chemistry lab group.

On Wednesday I went to a Scholarship Workshop in the morning, which was really useless because I didn't learn anything I didn't know. After that I went to chemistry and had a good time with Armando, then I went for lunch at Champion's Choice and this creepy guy (kind of geeky) automatically puts his book on my table and walks away .-. without asking me if there was someone sitting there, he had a beard in his cheeks o.O Before calculus I met up with Victoria and Ricardo to make our poster for chemistry lab, we didn't really get anything done so after calculus Victoria and I gathered to finish it, we would still be working on it if it weren't for Courtney who saved our lives. She sent me her power point presentation and it helped us a lot! For dinner I had a TropiChop from Pollo Tropical, and I thought that was going to sky rocket my calories for today leaving me with a red mark but it actually didn't.

On Thursday I had my oral presentation for chemistry lab and we did very well, everybody was like "WHAT?! Did David really dropped the class?! *they sounded kind of relieved" hahaha, it has been long since I've had fun a a chemistry lab, and I'm definitely loving this class. Our TA, Justin, is so funny and my two remaining lab mates are beyond awesome. After lab I finished the first half of "Wooden on Leadership" book, which is the book I had to read for my book club meeting for my leadership program. I had stomach ache in the morning but it turned out just to be gas. Oh! Something I must write is that today is freezing! It's supper cold and cloudy, when I go to chemistry lab it's usually cold because the sun hasn't come up yet but today it stayed cold even after lab class, we were at 16 celsius, that's about 64 fahrenheit. The day did got hotter thanks to the sun and right now (2 PM) we are at a comfy 21 celsius. Oh, also in chemistry lab there is this group that has two people from the Middle East, you know, the know it alls and in every presentation they would ask the hardest things making the group look bad; in our turn this guy made a question that we didn't even understand and our TA was like do you even know that? Justin let us off the hook knowing how douche bags these Middle Eastern guys were and bombarded them when it was time for their group, HA! Karma bitches. Weeks ago I applied to this Photographer position in the Housing Office of Campus and Greg Bowers asked for my portfolio and I have an interview scheduled for Monday!

On Friday I had my chemistry test and I don't feel I did very good :( I'm so sad right now. At 4 PM I went to an Advisor Appointment because I had a hold and to release it I needed to attend a mandatory first-year appointment with my advisor, after that I came back and watched non-stop Grey's Anatomy. Also my chemistry grade was posted and I got a 76, which is a B in this class, I'm kind of relieved but I was really hoping for an 80+. Today marks three weeks I've spent without drinking soda! And I'm still counting my calories, I also noticed that my blue pants from Gap that kind of fitted okay now feels a little loose. I don't want to get me hopes up but I'll keep on not drinking soda and counting my calories.

Getting excited?

First I found out that I could get in-state tuition instead of out-of-state and now I've talked to two of my roommates, actually one roommate and one suitemate, and they seem so cool and we share some interests. I first talked to my roommate, Hannah, a couple of months ago, what I like about her is that she's not a party girl and is focused on academics just like me. We went through ups and downs together when we got assigned to a hall we did not wanted because it was traditional style and you had to share a bathroom with a whole floor and then we both asked for a room exchanged and got put into Delta Hall! Which is a suite style hall. Then Grace, one of my suitemates, contacted me and we have so much in common! It's amazing. We both love Busch Gardens, traveling, and sports. I guess I found my roller coaster partner! 

I'm getting so excited now that I know a couple of people I like and the date is getting so close! In 49 days is my departure flight to Tampa! 

USF Bulls Pride!