Seriously dragging my feet about going to work today. :( stupid holidays and people waiting until the last goddamn possible second to get their food.

Got my ACT scores back: 29 composite (out of a possible 36). Apparently the ACT people decided not to trust anyone about their GPA, and they computed mine (incorrectly) as a 3.77. These scores seem weird to me--I didn't score as high as I thought I would in reading or writing but I did manage to score 74th percentile in math (what??) and 96th percentile in science. weiiird.

Ahhhh ACT scores back probably Wednesday. I'm nervous!

Eager to see how the court decides on the Lt. Choi case tomorrow.

Tonight after my shift the tall one met me and we saw Fatty Fat, the possum who lives in the chancellor's garden at UMass. He eats all the trash at night. I took a crappy picture of him, and then he outran us.

I need to eat something before I go to work (my shift starts at 4 and goes to 9:45 so I'll be hungry during the middle of it, plus I still need to eat lunch) but lately I can't stand eating. This happens every once in a while--I'm hungry for nothing and when I do force myself to eat it's very physically unpleasant and makes me want to throw up. I don't even want to think about food. I don't know why I get like this but it's super annoying.

Also signed up for a third class next semester, a sociology one: Social Problems & Crime, which, because it's taken at an urban school, will partly focus on Springfield and the Springfield area, which will be very interesting.

365 photos still alive but barely; this week has been very busy and I'm extremely tired. Off to go force something down and then upsell relish.

ACTs = OVARRR

They weren't too bad, actually--much more straightforward than the SATs. There's one block of writing, one block of math, one block of science, etc. so the test had four block parts (plus writing) instead of ten mini parts. It also went much quicker; we were out by 12:15 instead of 1:15. I rocked the reading and writing parts, muddled through most of the math (and you're not penalized for guessing, so I went and randomly filled in all the ones I didn't get to) though there were some pretty advanced concepts that I've never seen before and others that I have long forgotten how to do, and did pretty well on the science part. It turns out that I actually didn't need to learn physics because a) there wasn't any on this test and b) it's all interpreting graphs and informed guesses, so not too bad. As the tall one pointed out, studying for this test doesn't really work too well because it's supposed to be a measurement of four years' worth of learning. And the writing part was very easy and I managed to get out more than on the SATs. The kid next to me wrote a sentence and a half and then stopped.

I think I'll manage at least a 29 composite, which is alright, but I still prefer the SATs just because they're easier for nontraditional students. High school students should be able to take the ACT with no problem.

tl;dr standardized testing blows and now I am going to work to play IRL Tetris bag groceries.

ECONOMICS IS SO F-ING HARD.

I seriously don't understand it at all. I just got a 65 on a quiz, and the only reason I got that was because there were exact definitions. Opportunity cost? Possible Production Frontier? WHAT ARE THESE THINGS? WHY IS EVERY EXAMPLE WITH PIZZA AND CDs OR OIL CHANGES AND TIRES?! WHY CAN'T WE JUST USE MONEY EXAMPLES? This class is going to tank my GPA.

I feel the way I did when I took chemistry--I was just confronted with a subject about which I understood practically nothing. If I ask my mom about it, she will understand it, because she's just one of those people who "gets" money. She could've been a banker or something. But really. Why is this so hard? Why is there so much goddam vocabulary? AHHH.

And work was a disaster. The receptionist looked horrified when she came in. Old people were lying trampled on the waiting room floor, the phone was ringing constantly, the syringes were all filled with air, I was throwing up with a hangover in the bathroom, and Avril Lavigne was playing on the radio. It was horrible. Now I smell like a dentist office D:

lake house

( Read more... )

Caps and gowns were handed out today--you get an orange rope-thing (can't recall the name) to wear over your gown if you are "pro merito" (meaning you have a 90 average or better). I was given a pro merito certificate last year, so I should have that. But not at this school! Apparently, even though I maintained a 97 average throughout the year, it doesn't matter because of the dual enrollment program. I can't wait to be done with this school.

It's so embarrassing and awful to read a line like this: "I'm not going to minimize it. She was raped then driven back safe and sound to where she was picked up."

Right. Safe and sound.

The first is "Find the River" by R.E.M., off the "Automatic for the People" album, which is a fantastic album, and possibly R.E.M.'s best. I mentioned this yesterday to asakiyume because they name lots of plants and herbs:



(Similar to this song is "Nightswimming," off the same album. It has beautiful instrumentation (including a prominent oboe) and you can find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Chy_TZdwA)

The second is the song "See the World" by Gomez. I like the song a lot, but the video is even better--it was shot all around the world (2:24 is adorable):

110. Sort of not really looking at UMass-Lowell. I don't know much about Lowell, and anyways, the Amherst campus is really the best, but I don't think I'll apply there.

( Read more... )

Okay, so this article.

I said in a different post (which was locked to all sorts of people, so I'll just go over it again) that I thought they had the cause wrong: that it's not increased daylight causing insomnia which then causes severe depression and suicide, but increased daylight increases hypomanic or dysphoric moods. Besides anorexia, which is a bit different and has a sky-high suicide rate, the two most fatal mental disorders are borderline personality disorder, with a successful suicide rate of 8-10% and bipolar disorder, for which I can't find statistics right now but which I know has an extremely high suicide rate. For contrast, in the United States about .1% of the population will die of suicide in any given year.

Both of these disorders have the mood swings in common, unlike unipolar depression. More importantly, they have the "right" mood swings in common--specifically, hypomanic or dysphoric moods. These moods are expecially dangerous because they lead to an increase of both energy and bad feelings--high anxiety, high irritability, think the complete opposite of depression (it's not happiness). It's the same reason antidepressants have that black-box warning--depressed people may feel bad but they have no energy to kill themselves. On the other hand, those with these types of moods and mood swings have the energy and feel awful, hence completed suicides.

It's interesting to note that even in places without a ton of sun the suicide rate is always much higher in the springtime than in the winter, contrary to the popular belief that winter causes suicide because of the depression and holidays. We all know that people get spring fever when the weather gets warm and the sun starts to be out longer--they run around more, they feel more active, they feel high-spirited and maybe more impulsive. I'm willing to bet that increased agitation and suicide is like spring fever for those with these sorts of mental illnesses. It also would keep with the finding that suicides around this time of year are often more violent--more energy, more anxiousness, more anger--all contributing to a more violent (or active) suicide.

In any case, I think they're headed in the right direction, but I'd like to see studies on whether sunlight increases hypomanic/dysphoric episodes and determining whether individuals with bipolar or borderline are more likely to commit or attempt suicide around this time of year, as compared with those who have unipolar depression.

Kid 1: Oh man, after this lab practical I've gotta go home and write a paper for my Women in Lit class. That class is okay, but the professor's like some man-hater.
Kid 2: If she teaches a class like that, she probably is a man-hater.
Kid 1: Yeah. The thing is, I like the class but at the same time, it's like I'm being blamed for everything...Like, hey, I'm not oppressing you.
a few minutes go by
Kid 2: I'm thinking about transferring to Springfield College once I graduate.
Kid 1: Oh man! I've never taken classes there or anything, but I've gone to parties there and the girls are so hot and they party like crazy! Dude, if you go there, you'll be in heaven!

*facepalm*

And that's mostly why I don't date people at my school.

This was the first stop, Hamilton. So creepy. The tall one has more pictures, because I was distracted by looking for an escape.

( Cazenovia, Ithaca, Elmira )

I have too much stuff to do today and not enough day to do it. also I missed school because I was so tired I couldn't safely get there

90. Phi Theta Kappa induction
( Read more... )

82. I was very sneakily skipping theatre to study biology

( Read more... )

I wish my brother would quit randomly missing his bus and then act like I'm his chauffeur-bitch and he's the one being inconvenienced. He's so rude! And I had to give him the smackdown yesterday because when we did a toast at dinner, he wished everyone a happy zombie Jesus day. Not in this house, fool!

...is *drumroll*
Colgate University!

I was looking at their site--$51,000 per year
They only offer need-based financial aid (I wonder who they define as "having need") and put firm restrictions on what they give to transfer students. They also do not award any aid to students who are independent of their parents. Apparently they also hate when people get scholarships from outside sources.

You may be good but you're not good enough to rape me for 51 K per year.

Poll #1380850 >:(
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Poll: Why don't you do my polls?

Poll #1379621 college stuff
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Did you go to college?

Which type of college did you go to? (check for any institute you went to)

How long, total, have you been in school? (Count grad school, etc)

Which is the highest degree you currently hold?

What was your major(s)?

What is the job or jobs you hold now?

Wherever you went or didn't go, were you pleased with your experience?