I feel like the whole library knows that I'm listening to my NSYNC Pandora station. Little do they know it's the only thing that keeps me sane as I edit my Division Two contract. That and chocolate covered pretzels. Do you think I can do a chair dance to "Lady Marmalade" without anyone noticing? Too late, doing one now.
The only reason I'm editing my Div 2 contract is because it's my last semester before Div 3 and I need to make some changes to this thing so it actually reflects what I spent these past two years doing. Apparently I thought I was going to study psychology? Weird. Anyways, I pretty much know what I want my Div 3 to be now, which is so exciting and a major relief because there was a substantial period of time where I didn't. I also have one pretty much guaranteed committee member who has already given me some great advice for what I want to do.
Now if only I could secure a nice internship for the summer, everything would be even better.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Adventures in Homecoming
I feel really displaced here. Like, it's good to be back but so many little things changed when I was away. Like, the bus schedule is different. The buses used to go to Amherst on the :10 and :40, but now they're on the :20 and :50. The Amherst Brewing Company moved. There are all these new people on campus I don't know. I almost walked into my old mod yesterday. My new mod is nice and my room is pretty sizable, but I'll always miss the closeness I felt last year. Even though that closeness was hard a lot of the time, I felt like I was part of a family. It's nice to have peace and quiet where I live now, because I definitely got none of that last year, and my new modmates have been really welcoming, but I've only been back for two days and they've gone by very slowly. I also have to figure out my Div 3 soon, and I'm just completely lost about it.
I'm sitting in one of my favorite coffee places now, trying to write cover letters but mostly just blogging. I just sent one to Penguin though. We'll see how that goes. Maybe sometime soon I'll write something funny here, or compile a list of my favorite "Shit ____ Say" videos or talk about which books I decided to take to college in the end. But right now I just feel kind of uprooted and like I'm trying to get to know someone I haven't seen in a while who's different but I can't put my finger on how.
I'm sitting in one of my favorite coffee places now, trying to write cover letters but mostly just blogging. I just sent one to Penguin though. We'll see how that goes. Maybe sometime soon I'll write something funny here, or compile a list of my favorite "Shit ____ Say" videos or talk about which books I decided to take to college in the end. But right now I just feel kind of uprooted and like I'm trying to get to know someone I haven't seen in a while who's different but I can't put my finger on how.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Packing Books
It has occurred to me, through a few friends pointing it out, that saying "I'm not a crazy person" twice in a cover letter does in fact make you look like a crazy person.
Today, I'm trying to pack for the spring semester. I'm leaving the house at 9am tomorrow. I found my tea kettle which is a huge relief. I need to look for my comforter next. I also should probably figure out what books to bring. Realistically, I won't read a lot of them or any of them. I don't have time to read for pleasure when I'm in school. I'm not happy about this, but it's life. When I have time off from the dense readings that my professors assign me, all I want to do is look at pictures of dogs on Tumblr or watch SVU on Netflix. Reading passages from "Atonement" is more of a summertime activity, when I'm craving intellectual stimulation in the midst of doing nothing.
I think most college students bring books with them (I'm talking about books that they have not been assigned for a course) in hopes to appear more interesting to visitors. It's a big deal when someone comes to your dorm room for the first time, even if the visit is strictly platonic. You don't want to look dumb. At least I don't. I try to arrange my books accordingly. But I'm also comforted when I'm surrounded by books. One of my favorite places to work on campus is in the stacks of the library. There's something about that sort of engulfment that makes me feel more productive.
...I just got up and went around my room looking for books to take with me, I currently have 12. No, wait, 13. I forgot "The Hunger Games" on my nightstand. My sister told me to read it. It's actually pretty great, I'm about halfway through. I'm looking for this other book about Northern Ireland that I think could be useful to have around as a European Studies slash English slash Public History major. If I can't find it I'll order it used on Amazon.
Right. I'd better get back to packing.
Today, I'm trying to pack for the spring semester. I'm leaving the house at 9am tomorrow. I found my tea kettle which is a huge relief. I need to look for my comforter next. I also should probably figure out what books to bring. Realistically, I won't read a lot of them or any of them. I don't have time to read for pleasure when I'm in school. I'm not happy about this, but it's life. When I have time off from the dense readings that my professors assign me, all I want to do is look at pictures of dogs on Tumblr or watch SVU on Netflix. Reading passages from "Atonement" is more of a summertime activity, when I'm craving intellectual stimulation in the midst of doing nothing.
I think most college students bring books with them (I'm talking about books that they have not been assigned for a course) in hopes to appear more interesting to visitors. It's a big deal when someone comes to your dorm room for the first time, even if the visit is strictly platonic. You don't want to look dumb. At least I don't. I try to arrange my books accordingly. But I'm also comforted when I'm surrounded by books. One of my favorite places to work on campus is in the stacks of the library. There's something about that sort of engulfment that makes me feel more productive.
...I just got up and went around my room looking for books to take with me, I currently have 12. No, wait, 13. I forgot "The Hunger Games" on my nightstand. My sister told me to read it. It's actually pretty great, I'm about halfway through. I'm looking for this other book about Northern Ireland that I think could be useful to have around as a European Studies slash English slash Public History major. If I can't find it I'll order it used on Amazon.
Right. I'd better get back to packing.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A Cover Letter I Wish I Could Write
Dear (Potential Employer but most likely Assistant to a higher up)
My name is Lisa Warren, and I want to be your summer intern. Great, now we both know that. Truth is, I hate writing cover letters and you probably hate reading them too. You've probably got Tumblr or something open in another tab right now, just like me. So I won't waste our time.
Why you should hire me as a summer intern
-I'm not a crazy person
-I'm fluent in Starbucks
-I know how to make data entry not suck (Podcasts)
-I believe I have the traits of someone who works in publishing. I'm a registered Democrat, an organ donor, an English and History major, a liberal-intellectual Jew but I'm more spiritual than religious, and I don't have a Kindle.
-I will work really hard
-I learn things quickly
-I love books
-I know how to use a copy machine
-I'm not a crazy person
I hope you will consider me for this position, and I think I would make you proud.
Sincerely,
Lisa Warren
My name is Lisa Warren, and I want to be your summer intern. Great, now we both know that. Truth is, I hate writing cover letters and you probably hate reading them too. You've probably got Tumblr or something open in another tab right now, just like me. So I won't waste our time.
Why you should hire me as a summer intern
-I'm not a crazy person
-I'm fluent in Starbucks
-I know how to make data entry not suck (Podcasts)
-I believe I have the traits of someone who works in publishing. I'm a registered Democrat, an organ donor, an English and History major, a liberal-intellectual Jew but I'm more spiritual than religious, and I don't have a Kindle.
-I will work really hard
-I learn things quickly
-I love books
-I know how to use a copy machine
-I'm not a crazy person
I hope you will consider me for this position, and I think I would make you proud.
Sincerely,
Lisa Warren
Thursday, January 12, 2012
I'm BAAAAAAACK
HEY EVERYONE
I'm back after a long, long hiatus. Said hiatus was due to me being in London and keeping up a separate blog while there (semesterinlondontown.tumblr.com), and being unable to keep up with two blogs at once.
But I'm back now, and I've been home for about a week. My time at home has mainly consisted of a trip into New York where I got too jet lagged to stay at a party I went there for, half-heartedly cleaning my closet, and looking for paid publishing internships for the summer (that's an oxymoron, I'm learning)
I do miss London a lot, and it's seeped into me more than I had thought it would. I call New York subway stations "tube stops" and say I need to "top up" my Metrocard. But beyond public transportation, I can't get through a day without having some kind of second lunch ("tea") at 4pm and I call things "brilliant" a lot. People tell me I'll go back, and I believe them. But when I go back I want to do it right. I want to get a work visa and a job and a flat and really LIVE there. I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about how great it would be if my kid had a British accent someday. There is NOTHING more adorable than a toddler who says "Mummy."
I go back to Hampshire in ten days though, and I'm really excited. I heard it through the grapevine that people actually miss me when I'm not there. I'm not used to being missed. I do most of the missing usually, it seems. More and more I realize that Hampshire is the place I was meant to end up at. We had a weird start, but now it's home. It was home when I was in London (though I think I could make London my home someday) and it's definitely home when I'm at either of my parents' houses. I can't wait to go back.
I'm back after a long, long hiatus. Said hiatus was due to me being in London and keeping up a separate blog while there (semesterinlondontown.tumblr.com), and being unable to keep up with two blogs at once.
But I'm back now, and I've been home for about a week. My time at home has mainly consisted of a trip into New York where I got too jet lagged to stay at a party I went there for, half-heartedly cleaning my closet, and looking for paid publishing internships for the summer (that's an oxymoron, I'm learning)
I do miss London a lot, and it's seeped into me more than I had thought it would. I call New York subway stations "tube stops" and say I need to "top up" my Metrocard. But beyond public transportation, I can't get through a day without having some kind of second lunch ("tea") at 4pm and I call things "brilliant" a lot. People tell me I'll go back, and I believe them. But when I go back I want to do it right. I want to get a work visa and a job and a flat and really LIVE there. I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about how great it would be if my kid had a British accent someday. There is NOTHING more adorable than a toddler who says "Mummy."
I go back to Hampshire in ten days though, and I'm really excited. I heard it through the grapevine that people actually miss me when I'm not there. I'm not used to being missed. I do most of the missing usually, it seems. More and more I realize that Hampshire is the place I was meant to end up at. We had a weird start, but now it's home. It was home when I was in London (though I think I could make London my home someday) and it's definitely home when I'm at either of my parents' houses. I can't wait to go back.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
London bound!
I'm leaving tomorrow to go to London for the semester, and if I weren't so tired from all the planning that's been going on this past week, I'd be more articulate about it right now.
I have until about 6pm tomorrow to finish my packing, then it's off to the airport where I will probably do a little more crying and get on the plane, where I will attempt to sleep for a few hours but will be lucky if I sleep for ten minutes. Then I'll get to Heathrow, which is the cleanest place I've ever been in that isn't a hospital, certainly the cleanest place I've ever been in that doesn't have trash cans. I'll take the shuttle bus to campus, and then I'll probably say I should get to the pub and meet some people who will potentially become my lifelong friends, but I'll most likely pass out while I'm getting dressed.
I've wanted to do this for years. Study abroad in London, that is. Something about it has always drawn me. I can't wait to just be settled there.
I'll be keeping another blog during the next few months, documenting my time abroad. Don't know how this one will hold up, but I might pop in every now and then to ramble about things not England-related. But you should read my London blog (http://semesterinlondontown.tumblr.com/) even if it's just because you like the layout. I deliberated a long time on that.
I have until about 6pm tomorrow to finish my packing, then it's off to the airport where I will probably do a little more crying and get on the plane, where I will attempt to sleep for a few hours but will be lucky if I sleep for ten minutes. Then I'll get to Heathrow, which is the cleanest place I've ever been in that isn't a hospital, certainly the cleanest place I've ever been in that doesn't have trash cans. I'll take the shuttle bus to campus, and then I'll probably say I should get to the pub and meet some people who will potentially become my lifelong friends, but I'll most likely pass out while I'm getting dressed.
I've wanted to do this for years. Study abroad in London, that is. Something about it has always drawn me. I can't wait to just be settled there.
I'll be keeping another blog during the next few months, documenting my time abroad. Don't know how this one will hold up, but I might pop in every now and then to ramble about things not England-related. But you should read my London blog (http://semesterinlondontown.tumblr.com/) even if it's just because you like the layout. I deliberated a long time on that.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Come on, Irene too loo-rye-ay
At this moment, I'm in my bed waiting for the apocalypse. I mean Hurricane Irene. But all the news stations are making this look like the end of days.
Northern Westchester isn't in any of the evacuation zones, but we've filled the bathtub with water and stocked up on canned food anyway. I have so many books for when the power goes out. But it's hard to imagine anything now. It's eerily calm and quiet. Kind of like that scene in Carrie right before the hand shoots out of the grave. No one likes a tease, Irene. Give us some rain and gusts of wind so we can all stop waiting around.
All I want is for the storm to pass so I can get focusing on my next thing to wait for. I'm flying out to London on September 23rd. I'm a little nervous because I'm going on a red eye and I can't sleep on planes. Also because I'm worried I won't make any friends. I feel like a kid on her first day of middle school when I type that. At least I don't have a Trapper Keeper and haven't been to an orthodontist in years. But my hair still frizzes out a lot. Who am I kidding, I'll always be somewhat of an awkward middle schooler.
What I do know that is that I would be very unhappy and bored going back to Hampshire for this semester. It's time for a break. I'll miss all my friends dearly, as well as the cider donuts and packed mod dance parties and even the smell of cow farts wafting onto campus, but it's time for another adventure.
Northern Westchester isn't in any of the evacuation zones, but we've filled the bathtub with water and stocked up on canned food anyway. I have so many books for when the power goes out. But it's hard to imagine anything now. It's eerily calm and quiet. Kind of like that scene in Carrie right before the hand shoots out of the grave. No one likes a tease, Irene. Give us some rain and gusts of wind so we can all stop waiting around.
All I want is for the storm to pass so I can get focusing on my next thing to wait for. I'm flying out to London on September 23rd. I'm a little nervous because I'm going on a red eye and I can't sleep on planes. Also because I'm worried I won't make any friends. I feel like a kid on her first day of middle school when I type that. At least I don't have a Trapper Keeper and haven't been to an orthodontist in years. But my hair still frizzes out a lot. Who am I kidding, I'll always be somewhat of an awkward middle schooler.
What I do know that is that I would be very unhappy and bored going back to Hampshire for this semester. It's time for a break. I'll miss all my friends dearly, as well as the cider donuts and packed mod dance parties and even the smell of cow farts wafting onto campus, but it's time for another adventure.
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