So there is a saying in Maryland…If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.  In other words, the weather around here changes ALL the time.  So literally, on Monday we had 5 inches of snow and school was closed.  This weekend though, I am in shorts because it is 70 degrees and the sun is shinning!

This is awesome for me because the majority of the weekend I have been able to relax and kick back while hanging out with some of my friends, soaking up the sun.  I finally get to whip out my shorts and short sleeve shirts and feel comfortable and stop thinking about the cold and the wind.

The unfortunate side effect of this is the reaction to people as they adjust to the changing temperatures and the reactions of the trees as the temperature fluctuates.  Yesterday I was walking to the dining hall and I noticed that a bunch of trees have leaves on them that are now brown and falling off…I kept walking and then thought again that it was winter and almost spring…the leaves should be just getting ready to bloom, NOT falling off.  The poor trees are very confused by the changing temperatures.

Also I noticed a lot of people were resistant to the temperature going back down again (this isn’t the first time we had summer weather and snow in the same week).  They keep wearing shorts even though the temperature drops, and then they get sick.  This then causes everyone else to catch what they have and to have it spread like an epidemic.

Luckily though, I think since I’ve been eating right and working out that my immune system is fending off anything, so I am disease-free and loving the sun while it lasts!

So I was sitting in my “Controversies in Clinical Psychology” class tonight (literally 10 minutes ago) and the professor is talking about this paper that we will need to do.  It is a literature review and he is going on about what a literature review is and how we need to have it in APA format and things like this (I’ll spare you the details).  Towards the end of this, he starts talking about how the paper is mandated by the Psychology department because it is a 400-level class (specifically PSYC493-C) and that all 400-level classes are suppose to be capstone classes.

So I sit in my seat and think “what exactly is a capstone class?  I know I’ve heard it before and that it is always talked about in such a positive light, what what have I gotten myself into?”  So I came back to my room and looked it up and I thought I’d share.  This is from the Psychology department as to the instructions for all 400-level classes in psychology:

“In order to provide majors with a ‘capstone’ course experience which builds upon earlier coursework, the
Psychology Department has defined 400-level courses as follows: “to provide students with skills and ability to
understand an area of psychology in depth. Class size ideally no larger than 25. To include substantial reading
and analysis of primary source material. Written work, advanced analytical work, and/or other advanced creative
experience to comprise a significant (>30%) proportion of course grade.”

So in other words, I will be synthesizing knowledge from previous classes as I talk about Alien Abduction Experiences…This should be interesting.  No, but all joking aside, I think this is really awesome that I get to participate in this type of class and tell future employers and graduate school that I completed a course like this.  Unfortunately though if they ask any questions about it though, I have to talk about how I tried to prove aliens exist…While my teacher is very open to it and thinks of it as a legitimate concern in psychology, other people might not take so kindly to it…so I guess I just hope they don’t ask what my capstone paper and presentation were about.

This also made me wonder though why there were no capstone classes required in my Biochemistry major.  Not that I really want to do even more exhausting work with Biochemistry, but I’m sure it would pay off for others as much as I think this one will pay off for me in Psychology.  Oh well, I guess I should just count myself lucky that one of my two majors (and the one I plan to focus on) has this experience for me!

I have to say, one of my favorite things in the world is snow!  Well, I should add when I can stay in side and watch the snow accumulate, it is one of my favorite things.  Well today, luckily, it was one of those days.  SNOW DAY!  UMBC was officially closed today, which means my weekend is extended!  For 2 days actually because I have off tomorrow too (yay for no Tuesday or Thursday classes).  Most of the time, UMBC only gives us a delay, but I guess since we had like 4+ inches of snow, they closed.

It’s interesting because UMBC has this system where you give them your cell phone number and you recieve a text message in case anything really important is going on with the campus.  So today at 5:30am I got a text saying UMBC would open at 10am.  I thought, “cool I miss my first class and I can sleep an extra hour.”  So I reset my clock and go back to sleep.  I get another text at 8am saying that UMBC will be opening at noon.  I think “great, now I miss another class, I get out of running one research subject, and my day starts at 1pm.  Now I can REALLY sleep in.”  So I reset my alarm and get back into bed.  Then a third text message comes at 9:15 saying school is closed.  My final thoughts, “Heck yeah!  4 day weekend!  I can do whatever I want all day, sleep until noon!”  So I get back into bed and am so pumped that I can’t go back to sleep.

So I got up, worked on some stuff I didn’t finish up this weekend, ventured in the cold to get food, then watched a movie.  I am officially done for the day and for tomorrow pretty much and it is only 3:30!  I am so pumped.  I will DEFINITELY be taking advantage of this day!

This was theme of last night.  Unfortunately this doesn’t pertain to the show Heroes, which I am a HUGE fan of, but miss last night.  No, instead I was on duty as a Resident Assistant.  Typically, it isn’t a huge deal being on duty.  I just need to do rounds around the building twice a night to make sure nothing bad is happening.  Normally everyone is good, so I just get to hangout in my room.  The desk, though, sometimes calls to report stuff, but that rarely happens.  Well, last night I was not so lucky.  It started out with finding out that Chesapeake Hall had no hot water.  So I had to go around and see which floors had hot water and which ones didn’t.  Typically, this is taken care of right away because hot water is pretty important, but it was just our luck that the shop that normally takes care of this was missing an important part, so we had to wait.  That means not only did I have to take a cold shower last night, but I also had to listen to lots of complaints about the water.

Anyway, I then went back to my room, and around 11 o’clock (pm that is) I get a call saying that there is a fire outfront of Chesapeake…My first thoughts were “that’s a really stupid joke to prank call me with” but I responded anyway.  It seems that someone took a cigarette and threw it into the trashcan, catching the trash on fire.  Well, luckily I went through allied health training in high school, so I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.  It was actually was the first time I had used a fire extinguisher, which was cool, but at the same time I don’t enjoy putting out fires…

So that was my night in a nutshell, putting out fires, taking freezing cold showers, and trying to sleep and study for a test!  It is strange because normally everything runs so smoothly…except when I’m duty I guess.  Fate was not with me last night, heh.

So I noticed my posts are always a little behind, but that’s okay.  So this one is about last Thursday.  After having a pretty relaxing day, I had a few meetings and then my sister drove up to UMBC to take me out to eat.  She is 24 and has her Master’s Degree in Information Technology from Villa Julie College (now known as Stevenson University).  She works back where my home is (Rosedale inside Baltimore County) but for work she was suppose to be attending some networking event or something at UMBC at 7pm.  So she decided when she got off work to come to UMBC early and pick me up.  We went to Panara Bread, which is fairly close to campus and caught up.  She told me what was going on with her and her husband and her newly adopted puppy and I was telling her about my progress with graduate schools (or lack there of…) and how I was searching for a job.  It was really good to see her again because, even when I do go home, she lives in her own house so I rarely get to see her.

My sister and I have always been close but ever since I moved away to college, it’s been a struggle for us to stay connected.  It isn’t a matter of finding a mode of communication, but rather finding the time to bridge the gap.  Ironically though, if I end up not going to a graduate school this year and instead work in a clinical psychological setting in state, I will likely be moving in with my sister, which is exciting.  Maybe then we’ll truly be able to reconnect…

So one of the more interesting classes I am taking this semester is a 400-level Psychology seminar called Controversies in Clinical Psychology.  The class is designed to explore both sides of issues in clinical psychology, like ADD over diagnosis, the existence of childhood bipolar disorder, and things of the like.  Each person has to sign up for a topic and a side, either for or against, and then research the topic.  We will then be presenting our side against the other side and the goal is to persuade the class in our favor.

We each got to pick our choice of topics, and the topic I chose is Alien Abduction Experiences (AAE).  That’s right…Aliens.  The controversy is whether this is a psychological disorder that people are creating in their mind or if something is actually happening to these individuals.  Sounds cool right?  Well it actually pretty is.  I am on the con side, saying that I feel like this is not a psychological disorder but an actual experience people are having.

So how did I spend my Tuesday?  In the library trying to prove that aliens exist!  I found these books and have reading up on them, and the evidence seems to be supporting my side of the argument, which is good for the class.  I will honestly say though that I never thought I would be reading about alien abductions and the commonalities in seeing UFOs for a class, but I guess there is a first time for everything!

Perhaps this class will turn me into a believer.  Who knows, but it sure makes for an interesting research topic!

So this past week has been HORRIBLE! (hence why I didn’t post all week!!!)  I spent all of last weekend at a conference, which meant this week I had to play catchup.  I had my first two tests of the semester, which I think went well, but I felt like there was so much else going on around me that I barely had time to study.  Currently I am the president of NRHH and a lot of stuff is going on, which would be okay if I had a full executive board.  Unfortunately I don’t, so I am doing the work of three people.

I also did two programs as a resident assistant in the residence hall, which is always fun but so very time consuming.  not only do I have to plan, prepare, execute, and clean up after the program, I also have to do an evaluation of the program.  My boss also has been off all week, so as the resident assistant with the most experience, I naturally fall into the role of being in charge and helping out the other resident assistants.  I like doing it, but it is still just something else to do!

I also recieved news from two school that I applied to, and it isn’t so good.  I kind of expected it just because I don’t have clinic experience, but with it added to everything else, it just made it that much worse.  I have officially started to panic about what I will do with my life and such after school, which is not fun at all.

This weekend though I am on duty as a resident assistant, which means I can’t leave the building.  This has been perfect for me though because it means I am getting everything done and officially catching up, including catching up on my blog and my sleep!  And with that being said, I think that is what I will go do…SLEEP!

So as I’ve set before, this is my last semester here at UMBC…I know, kind of sad.  But I’m happy that this semester is actually the easiest semester I’ve probably ever had.  I only have 15 credits and aside from being a Resident Assistant in one of the residential communities and being the National Residence Hall Honorary President, I have nothing else on my plate!  My classes are going by pretty easily without much a struggle, especially considering many of them are classes I have to take but are at a lower level than I was taking prior.  This means that free time is a plenty.  It’s strange because I am one of those people that always needs to be doing something.  I stress myself out having so many commitments and everything just so that my time is filled that I think I’ve forgotten how to relax.

So after sitting back and telling myself that I shouldn’t try to fill my time with more work, I’ve decided that instead of improving my community, I’m going to improve myself.  Not that I haven’t tried to improve my community, I just perhaps have given it too much of my time and none for myself.  So I’ve started working out and I’ve started reading for fun.  I know, what a strange concept right.  I have this collection of books I’ve always wanted to read but “never had the time to” so I decided it was time to make time.  The first book was lent to me by a friend and is “Twilight.”  Cliche?  I know, but it is suppose to be good.  It’s an easy read too, so we’ll see how it goes.  I was up until 3am last night reading.  I feel giddy doing it just because I love to read but always make excuses why I don’t.  Excuses no more though!  I am hitting the books, and not for school!  Yay personal enrichment!

It seems like whenever things are running smoothly something comes along to throw a wrench in it. it was the first weekend of the semester and I spent it sleeping in, watching TV, and watching the superbowl with some of my favorite people. I had not a care in the world (okay, maybe that’s a little exaggerated, but I had no school work so I was feeling good), and then Monday came…

Classes were fine, but I have my first homework assignment. Then I am told that the bid that I’ve been working on all winter break needs a powerpoint presentation to go along with it, AND I need to present it and answer questions this weekend. I also need to do all of my other RA responsibilities and keep up with my classes.

Okay, so I guess it really isn’t too much, but I was having a good time just coasting along and this threw me off. Hopefully I can pull it out tomorrow so I can just rest the rest of the week too. At least my research lab has started back up and its nice, easy work I can do in my sleep!  They also are setting me up (hopefully) with some jobs after school just in case I don’t get into any of the Clinical Ph.D. programs I applied to in the Fall.  they sound exactly what I’m looking for and need and I just hope they can follow through.  But this is another stressor that I don’t need to think about right now!  I just need to take Dr. Hrabowski’s advice and “Focus! Focus! Focus!”

I’m back again guys, for my last semester at UMBC…It is very bitter-sweet. There are so many things about UMBC that I will miss, but I think its time to move on. But that time isn’t quite her yet, so until then I still get to bask in the glory of the retrievers!
Today was the first day of classes, and I have been to 2 out of 3. They were conveniently back to back in adjacent lecture halls, so there was very little travel involved. Physical Chemistry was first, which is my last class for Biochem. It seems like a lot of math, which is good for me because I am a freak of nature and like math
The second class was Ecology and Evolution, which is for Psychology, and the class seemed really cool actually. The only downfall for both is having multiple professors teach. The good is that you get an expert on a particular subject, but the bad is that its like adjusting to a new class all over again with exams and lecture styles.
Luckily my last class is Psychology of Learning, which is only a 200 level class, and then I have off all day tomorrow! I love being a graduating senior. it is all the classes I had leftover to take, and almost all of them are easy! This will be my semester of rest before I go out into the real world…scary!  Between Graduate Schools and jobs, I think I should be fine…hopefully!  We shall see…