More Winter Break Goodness

Well today once again I found myself being rather bored and getting ready to go back to UW La Crosse. I am hoping that my classes go well, because I have to return to the wonderful world of math and I really do not enjoy doing that. Over break I have been trying something new for a lack of better things to do. In my speech class last semester I was told that I should consider selling items on E-Bay. So I have been selling lots of items and trying to make some spare money in the meantime. It has been a rather interesting process, because it seems like when you sell an item, everyone is trying to make a little bit of a profit. First off, E-bay takes a cut on the profits, then shortly after that if you are paying with Paypal they will take a cut. If you do not have the shipping rate down, that will also take a cut, and pretty soon you pretty much just gave the item to the seller or you lost money in the process. The other day I sold my first item, and I thought that the shipping on the item would be fairly cost efficient. I put the shipping at 4.00 dollars and thought that that would be enough. In reality I was shipping a coffee mug and the total cost to ship the mug was 7.00! So I lost a little bit of money on that deal. It ended up costing a lot more than I had anticipated. However I have learned, and now know that that will not happen again. Besides that however I just got back from a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. A couple of my college friends decided to get a suite and stay at the Kalahari Resort. It was absolutely amazing and we had so much fun. One of my friends has enough money so that he really didn't have to worry about the cost and it was such a good way to have fun and meet up over the break. He lives in Waukesha so we do not get to see each other too much over break. He did however come up to my house so that was a pretty good time. Other than that I have just been doing house work and other random chores that have been assigned to me. I can't wait to go back to school! See you guys later!

Winter Break

So Winter Break has finally come and it is absolutely fantastic. I am very happy that college gives you such a long break to recooperate. Over break lately I have been up to a lot of things. December 27-30th I was in Dallas Texas for the National Planning Meeting for the Order of the Arrow. We are currently trying to plan a service project which 5000 Scout Volenteers will work for 5 sites of the National Forest Service. The sites are George Washington Jefferson National Forest in Virginia, Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, Manti La-Sal National Forest in Utah, Bridger Teton National Forest in Wyoming, and Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California. I will be working on Staff at the Manti La-Sal National Forest and am currently helping to plan out the project and what is all involved with it. I am currently trying to engineer the closing video which I hope to inspire the volunteers to continue their service records at home. Right now it is going a little bit rough, because it has to be done by January 15th. I am about half way through the presentation and what I am having problems with are finding the appropriate quotes to inspire the workers.

Other than that however I am looking forward to moving back in to School on January 27th. The earliest you can move in is the 26th, however I have to be in Wausau Wisconsin that day. I am looking forward to my classes however. My next post, I will explain what classes I will be taking next semester. See you guys later, and I hope that your college admissions process is going well!

Winter Break

It seems like forever to get the semester over with, but after its over you wonder what you are going to do with all that time. I am currently on Winter Break, and quite frankly I wish that I was back down in La Crosse, because there is so much more to do down there than at my house. At any rate, the semester is over, I know how I did on my finals which is pretty good, and I forgot to tell you guys that I finally passed my ROTC test and have contracted, which means I am getting paid now to go to school. I would have to say that that is pretty awesome. So this winter break, I have invited some of my friends up to see me, and I will be going down by them. My roommate Jonathon is coming up to visit his girlfriend, and while he is up here he said that he would be coming and visiting me as well. Jorge, is one of my ROTC friends, and he will be coming up to visit me in Medford soon too. He is coming on January 5th, and I can't wait because Medford is so incredibly boring. I have been hanging out with my high school friends, and I stopped in to see 2 of my high school science teachers because they wanted to know how school was going and just catch up on how everything was with me. They were happy to hear that I did well on my tests and that everything had gone according to plan. Then I stopped in by my Physical Education teachers house and thanked him for believing that I could do ROTC. It meant a lot to me because I had a lot of people who really thought that I could never do that. Well I think that that is all for now, and I hope you guys are having a very Merry Christmas! Talk to you later!

Studying in the Dorms at La Crosse

So like I mentioned this week is finals week and the name of the game is trying to study. The problem that you guys might be thinking of is...how am I going to study if I do not have class, and the dorms at college are just so much fun. Well I have your answer. Dorms around the time of studying are turned into this military like boot camp because you RA's turn into monsters. The week of finals, the dorms crank out this wonderful thing called intensive quiet hours. Now this will become the lamest thing that you guys will ever experience. Imagine a dorm that is full of people, and you know that it is totally full of people, but nobody is talking. That's right, the dorm is absolutely silent. I would have to say that of all my college experiences it is the most creepy thing that I will ever see. Normally throughout the school year the dorms are awake and have many activities to do in them. This week however pretty much the only thing that will be going on in Hutchison Hall, my dorm is the activities happening late at night that do not conflict with anyone taking finals. Yesterday we had a pet therapy session which was pretty cool. Our Resident Assistants brought in a whole bunch of pets into the basement and we got to pet them and play around with them to have fun and relieve some stress. So while the dorms are quiet the chance that you can study becomes increasingly better. I would suggest to lock your door so that you don't end up with random people coming into your room as you are studying to distract you. Well speaking of studying I had better get going because I have to do that yet. I will talk to you guys next week!

Finals Part 1

So this week is finals and as I sit in Speech class for the last time, I think of how quickly the semester has gone. I am surprised and astonished about how quickly my finals are coming up. Let me tell you guys something...at some point in this time of finals you will want to stop studying and take a break. Instead of pushing yourself to the max and just not having any fun at all, give yourself that well deserved break. Chances are that if you want a break, and have been studying for 3.5 hours you will not be concentrating on your studies and your mind will end up wondering. I have 3 finals this semester in Speech, Chemistry and Biology. I took the speech final on Friday, and I will be taking the other two this coming Tuesday. My speech final went ok, but my teacher is very tricky because he makes questions that if you read one word wrong you end up not doing well on the test. So I guess that I can't speak too quickly on that topic. At any rate, I hope that all of my readers are enjoying their holiday season. I can't wait for mine to begin!

College life and getting sick

Hey everyone! That's right, if you are going to college, then chances are, you will be getting sick. It ends up happening to everyone right around finals which is generally the worst time of year to be getting sick, but it is the time that it happens. I right now have a sore throat, which is good, because finals are not for another 2-3 weeks, but it is also bad, because nobody wants to be sick. This week in Biology class we have been discussing DNA replication, which is a really great topic! The best part was the fact that we got to discuss the subject in greater detail and really get into it. In Chemistry class we have been talking about intermolecular forces and basic gas laws, and for the most part, class has been rather boring. I have to do a speech in Public Oral Communication next week, which is going to be fun, because it is the LAST ONE OF THE SEMESTER!!!!!! Yes! (If you can't tell, I am super excited about that one.) Besides that I am still trying to pass my physical test for ROTC. I failed last time by 6 seconds on my run and 4 sit ups, so needless to say I have been working the hardest I can towards that. The interesting thing is that I have never missed the sit ups since I came on campus which means that Turkey day got to me. What else can I say about great food like that. Well I have to get going to bed soon, because tomorrow morning I will be going to Missouri. Talk to you guys next week!

Thanksgiving Break

So every once in a while, a college student needs a break. After this past week, I would like to speak on behalf of the students at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and say that Thanksgiving break is much deserved. This past week I had three tests given right before the break, in Chemistry, Biology and Music Appreciation. The only test that was going to be a take home test was in Music Appreciation, which thankfully is on the computer. College tends to do that to you by throwing all the tests at you at once. Over break, I still will have to write two papers, in addition to complete my Chemistry Lab, however I do enjoy a little bit of quite time to myself. I left my dorm yesterday at around 4:00 because they were in the process of being shut down for the break. Next week, the highlight of my life will be attempting to take my Physical fitness test for ROTC again. Its guarenteed to be a fun time, or my money back :) Just a little bit of humor in there. Well I would have to say that that is all that I have for you guys right now, and I will talk to you next week!