Short and Sweet

Sorry for the lapse in updates-- I blame finals. Yeah. That word pretty much sums it up.

A couple bits of news:

• I have just today learned of an AmeriCorps opportunity with a school in the Ybor area. They sound amazing, and I'm definitely gonna research them more. Check out this article about the school... it's worth your time! The school is quite unique, and reading about it just excites me. :)

• Theresa and I created a dessert: Chocolate Chips-n-Dip. It was decent, but could stand some improvement. Basically, chocolate chip cookies crumbled in chocolate pudding. It probably would have been better if we had whole milk on hand to make the pudding... On a side note, I made grits for the first time in my life, and absolutely ruined them. Haha. They were so salty they burned my throat... I think they got saltier and saltier as they thickened though, cause when I first tasted them, they weren't bad at all!!

• Biggest news of all: I may have the opportunity to go back to MEXICO CITY this summer!! Oh my gosh. I am so so so excited for this, and I hope and pray I will be able to go.
  

Basically, IV has created a second Mexico trip specifically for the Tampa Bay area schools, and it will be combined with a week-long (I think) JJP conference upon return. So it's a combo trip. The whole thing will last from May 28 to June 23. Seriously... seriously. I had no clue this was in the works. None of us did. It was a total surprise. It almost feels like a Christmas present!

Jeremy told us at leadership today, and everyone was excited to hear it, but everyone who had gone before was positively ecstatic. Specifically, me and Kim were FREAKING out!! Across the room, she looked at me and was like "Robin... ROBIN!! AAAAHH!!" and then we did happy dances, and I squealed, and then I was bouncing for like 2 hours afterwards!! And Jeremy is gonna go too, which will be really cool, and he might bring one of his daughters, and Stacy I'm guessing will be there, and OH MY GOSH I might get to go back to Mexico!! This is still sinking in. I will, of course, pray about it... but just the thought of going back sends little jolts of excitement through my body. I need to work on my Spanish speaking/listening skills!! Oh, I hope this works out! Please, please God, please take me back to Mexico this summer!!

That's all for now. Not quite as short as I had thought. But that's okay. :)

Finals and such...

Public Health and Pathogenic Microbiology: (Tuesday, 1 pm)
I need an 89.5% on the final to get an A- in the class. (His tests are a total of 67 points, so a 60/67.)
A 95.5% would give me an A... IF he rounds. (64/67.... HAHAHA, riiiight.)
But this is a graduate level course (5000 level), so an A- will be fine. LOL.

Cell Biology: (Wednesday, 3:30 pm)
This one is kind of confusing. I'm actually calculating a different grade in the class than what I have listed, but there have been a couple little quizzes here and there since the T.A. last posted.

According to my math though, a 95% on the final (76/80) will get me an A... But that's IF he rounds, and I'm guessing on how much credit I'll get for that late quiz.
However, I believe just a 77.5% (62/80) will give me an A-. Not too shabby!

I should email him about that quiz, just to be sure.

Spanish I: (Also Tuesday, 8 am... ew)
Oh yes. Finally, a break.
According to my calculations, I need a 65% on the final to keep my A. Yeah. That's not a typo.
(So a straight-up D will give me an A... SWEET!!)

Looks like 2/3 of these tests are gonna be beasts (especially the first one I mentioned... SOOOO much material to learn!!), but I think I'm up for the challenge. Bring it on!!

Back to my regularly scheduled studying... Oh Chapter Camp, how I long for thee!! Haha.

The home stretch...

So in the collegiate world, everyone is beginning to go a little nuts because finals are next week. We're all getting antsy for the semester to end, but also realizing that we really need to buckle down and study this week. A rather unpleasant combo, if you ask me.

I'm no exception. I have just calculated my Cell Bio grade thus far... 89%. Blah. I hate borderline grades. It would take a 113% on the final to get an A in the class... soooooo since there's no extra credit on our exams, I guess I have officially kissed an A goodbye. BUT a 95% will get me an A-. So that's what I'm aiming for. Can you say STRESS!!

Knowing this, I walked into class today at 2 pm and suddenly realized that there was an online quiz due today at noon. Dang, I forgot to do it. That was pretty upsetting. I emailed my professor asking him if I can do it late for less points (anything is better than a zero at this point) but I'm not expecting him to oblige. (He's a nice guy and all, but that's just not how professors roll usually...) It sucks because the Cell Bio lab final was today, and because I was focusing on that, that's why I forgot about the other quiz. Whatever. Excuses. Bottom line is, I may have just erased even an A- out of my future.

So as I said, I was pretty upset. But then the weirdest thing cheered me up... during the lecture, we watched a 2-minute video showing the development of a zebrafish embryo from egg to a few days later. It was freaking awesome to see the head, tail, eyes, vertebrae all of a sudden emerge out of this blobby mess of cells. It reminded me how amazing biology truly is, how perfectly God has created the processes that form us and other creatures of the earth. It made me feel better, seeing so clearly that there is so much more than grades.

I've always had a problem balancing doing a good job in school with making my grades an idol. I've always been a perfectionist, and the slightest slip-up with my grades can truly wreck my day, or even my week. I can't even tell you how many times Jeremy has reminded me that grades are not my lord, Jesus is. It is so true, and I forget it so quickly. I just get so obsessed with getting an A, raising my GPA, achieve achieve achieve, not simply to do well, but to be the BEST. Be PERFECT. It's stressful, and it really does become a form of idolatry. But I was very happy that today, I was able to escape the mindset of beating myself up about not being able to get an A this time. It's okay. I'll still graduate.

I feel a lot better now, and I actually feel rejuvenated and ready to start studying for finals... but not before I spend some time with God to get my attitude straight, and to be reminded of what truly matters. I do NOT serve grades, I do NOT serve academics, or the university system of competing and being better than everyone else. I serve God.

That's all.