Thursday, November 17, 2011

Stressus Procrastinatus

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I just finished reading an article on my favorite website, www.cracked.com. I immediately thought of writing about it because I feel there is something we can lean from it.

But first let me just say these guys are my heroes... for real. They always cheer up my day, make me laugh until I'm blue in the face and inform me of the most random useless knowledge (yeah it's worse than a commercial about an asthma drug). Needless to say I'm hooked - in three different ways to be exact; their website, Facebook page and my favorite on-the-go tool, their Android App.

Hi everyone, my name is Janet and I'm a cracked.com junkie! I read at least five articles every day. If I ever get fired from my job it would because of them.

The reason for mentioning them is not just to give them an awesome plug, BUT because they covered the issue of studying for exams in college. Just in time for finals. (Yep, it's all coming together now.) This is their cleanest article I've read so far (these guys are not for the sensitive types, they cuss, a lot!), so I feel comfortable sharing this one with you.

The article is called, "The 7 Dumbest Things Students Do When Cramming for Exams". Sounds intriguing right? I know, it grabbed my attention right away. I said to myself, "Please cracked.com tell ME what I do wrong!" 

It touches on everything from complaining about the exam to highlighting our books until it looks like a hippee got a hold of it. Which  I have to admit I am guilty of doing on occasion. Somehow I truly believe highlighting will help me remember the information, well that and I just really love bright orange highlighters. So dumb... Anyway, as the writer (Luke McKinney) states,

"If you notice yourself lighting a textbook up like TRON fanfic, drop the highlighter. Instead, try writing out the key points of your reading material on a separate page you can study easily and anywhere. If that sounds like too much work, well done, you've just found out why people highlight instead."
 And he's 100 percent right! It's so important to write it out instead of using the pretty colored marker for two reasons. For one you're forcing yourself to actually use your brain and two it's proven that if you use a pencil to write it out your brain is more likely to remember the information. Why? Because of the vibrations it sends up to your brain. Think I'm nuts? Well it's true! Using a pen is too smooth and doesn't allow for vibrations to travel. I dare you to try it.

Another excellent point McKinney makes is to never re-read your notes and texts. Here is his logic...

"If you're in English lit, put down the play you already read, and write a one page essay discussing how Hamlet was the greatest pansy of all time. Do something, anything, which tests your knowledge or makes you actually think, then use your notes to find out what you'd forgotten. Then do the problem again. Instead of sitting and reconfirming, "Yep, I sure can read this language all right!"

Once again he's got a point. I love to believe re-reading my notes is actually helping me studying. But the cold hard fact is that it's not. Really it's just helping me to be even more lazy about studying.
OH! Another thing is nesting... how many of us need to have everything just so before we can even begin to think about studying? I am one of those people. Seriously I have a check list... Coffee, check. Studying materials, check. Classical music, check. The list goes on and I just recently learned that by doing this I'm wasting precious studying time.
I'm infamous for cramming for tests. It's what I do and I do it well. And depending on the subject I have aced many tests using my crazy unorthodox methods. I'm not saying it's a good idea to cram but hey we're college students it's expected of us, right?

So to end this rant of mine, I highly recommend reading this article before you cram for your exam. It will help you loosen up a bit, maybe even laugh.  And who knows you might learn something.

Stay Classy FC,
Janet
  

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Halloween - Over but not forgotten

So I'm back for a second time today! I promised you Halloween photos. I'm terribly sorry they are late - It took me a while to hunt them down.

I do wish there were more photos of the decorations. My house looked like Halloween threw up on it. (Like that visual? You're welcome.) We had all the rooms decked out with horrifying scenes of murder and blood. Ouija boards and tarot cards lay out on tables for people to use if they dared. Floating crosses and images of death laid around every corner. We also streamed a montage of clips from about a million horror films. I heard some people got sick and had to leave the room.

On the morning of the big day my husband and I woke up at 7am and worked until 3:30pm on decorating the house. But it was worth it! The party was a smash hit with about 40 or so people. You know it was a great party when you have run out of all the alcohol and order 70 bucks worth of pizza by the end of the night. At 3am I bid our last guest farewell and safe travels. I was thankful for Sunday and the enormous amount of rest I got after working and partying hard.

For our first party in the new house I'd say I'm very happy with the turn out. I can't wait until next years.



I did not take them and I apologize for the blurry slide show you're about to see. By the way, I'm the one in the red wig stand next to Chuckie.




Stay Classy FC,
Janet

































The End is Near!

It's almost time for finals. Are you ready to break out your notes from the last few months and study 'til you drop? I know I'm starting to gear up.

I see flashcards, eraser bits, and 0.5 lead pencils in my future. Not to mention the countless cups of coffee laying about the desk and the half eaten sandwich. Oh the joys of finals, it is the sure sign that you have gotten through yet another semester.

So the end of the semester is upon us, ready to be welcomed with open arms. I don't know about you but this semester flew by like a speeding train being chased by police. (Hmmm...are there police trains? Well if there isn't, there should be.) I can honestly say I have never experienced this in all my years of school. It feels as though I just blinked and poof November is here. Did any of you have the same experienced too? I hope so. Don't get me wrong I love to learn new things, but anything to help the pain of tests and homework is A-OKAY by me!

Speaking of the end of fall and the coming of spring. I checked out the course list for next spring and it's VERY bleak for me. I don't know if it's the same for you but it seems graduation will postponed longer than I had anticipated. Which is disheartening.

I covered a story for the Hornet touching on the subject of priority registration. I know Freshmen are struggling to get classes ( I remember my freshman year, it was difficult) but the main complaint I heard was "Why do students stay here so long, they should move on." It's a logical thought, why do they? Well for multiple reasons all ranging from money issues, their major and if they've changed it (like myself) and sometimes you're forced to drop classes (again like myself). All these things add to spending more semesters here at Fullerton. It's a shame but it's a fact. I'm not trying to bash anyone, just pointing out both sides to foreshadow the point I'm about to make...

which is...

I fear the budget cuts and lack of options for classes are going to be the main force in keeping students here. Never mind that some don't have money cause it won't matter if the courses aren't being offered. I have waited an entire year to take a class that was cancelled for this past spring. Only to find out it's not offered next year. I know this class is offered every other spring. And from what I understand a course can be canceled but must be brought back the following year. I say this with some conviction, I may need to double check my facts. But that's how it was explained to me. (Don't quote me on this.)

So I ask how can I move along without my courses? Trust me I want to move, I want to grow up and leave the college student life. I realize and understand with an open heart that the school is doing their best to offer the classes. The economy is tough, I know. But I want to graduate. And although I look forward to being here next spring, I'm a little sadden by it as well.

Regardless of the sadness I will continue with a smile on my face because I know every semester under my belt is another step towards graduating.

Stay Classy FC,
Janet