A week and a half away from my senior year

So it is the first day of August. I didn’t finish my internship in Romania due to personal reasons (ex: domestic violence). I left for home on June 5th and arrived home on June 6th, but It took me two days of flights. It was an interesting experience. I mean, I actually spent a whole night sleeping in an airport in Berlin, Germany and met a nice woman from Belgium.  Do not take me wrong, the experiences in Romania were very rich and full of amazing experiences. It is just that my supervisor had no respect for people. He openly admitted to me that he strongly loathes people when I first met him in person. Then he mistreated me for 2 weeks. So I left. Romania is a gorgeous country. Nights over there are amazing. There is no skylight for 30+ miles and the night sky always took my breath away. DC is beautiful at night, but it depends on the view and stars are barely seen whereas in Romania the night sky greatly resembles a black sheet with shiny diarrhea all over it. Get it? 🙂

I will be back in DC in a week and a half. It will be my first time taking ONLY four classes. I almost always take 6-7 classes per semester, but somehow fate decided that I am better off taking only 4 classes this fall. My schedule dwindled from 6 courses to 4 courses in one week. I am concerned about my schedule because 4 courses plus the RA job = way too much free time. I loathe “too much” free time. Some people like it, but I don’t. I like to be busy. But I will use it as an opportunity to venture off the campus as much as I can and explore DC before I graduate and say adios to Gallaudet for good.

This semester has been INTENSE for me.  The beginning of this semester was definitely difficult because I had to deal with personal family issues along with my life at Gallaudet. Sometimes it is difficult to live far away from family, but so far I am surviving. 🙂 We had some snow days. It is the fourth week of this semester, and people around the campus are already stressed out.

I am calling it a case of pre-senioritis.

Oh by the way I managed to get an internship in Romania for the summer. Working on the details of the Romanian internship is one of the peaks of this semester. 😉 Classes are going well…… Everything is going well only that I am ready for summer.

I will stay at Gallaudet for spring break because I need to save up money for the trip to Romania since I will be staying there for three months.

I may start a new public blog about my time in Romania, so that way my family and friends and other people can keep up with my adventures in Romania. 🙂

New year resolutions

I arrived at Gallaudet last Sunday, and ever since that day it felt as if time had fled by. Classes will begin on the 18th (next Tuesday). I can’t really explain how I feel about my classes. I am a little stressed out because I signed up for a graduate social work class that is relevant to my major. I recently found out that it might not count toward my major in international studies, so in one way I am not happy about that because all the other required classes for my major/minors are already full; however, in a way I am grateful that I signed up for that course because it led me to a winter break that mostly consisted of coming up with plan A, plan B, plan C, and so on for my life after graduation. I am interested in going to graduate school for a MSW (Masters in social work), but at the same time I am not sure if it’s right for me, so that graduate social work class should help me get an idea of what the social work field is like and if it is right for me or not. Also I am interested in going to Peace Corps after graduation because it will provide me a lot of benefits.

I am a little conflicted about the Peace Corps though. It requires a 2-years commitment, and I am still unsure if I want to search for a job after completing my degree at Gallaudet University. Decisions…Decisions…Decisions… I have five semesters left, so hopefully by 2012 or 2013 I will figure out what I want to do with my life after graduation. 🙂

Since it is the beginning of a new year, I decided to make several goals for 2011 because I fully intend to make the rest of this year a bad-ass year.

Goals I have that are relevant to Gallaudet (if you guys are curious about my personal goals, feel free to ask me!)

1) Work on my internship in Romania. I recently got offered a summer internship in Romania, and I am very excited about it. I have to arrange meetings with my AA and career center and work on the application.

2) Get CPR certified. I just found out that Red Cross will provide CPR training at Gallaudet this semester, and one goal on my 100 things to do in 1,097 days is to get CPR certified.

3) Join one or two clubs this year.

4) Figure out if I want to continue working in the RL or get another job at Gallaudet next fall.

So my junior year is one week away from being halfway gone.

During Thanksgiving break I worked on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Black Friday my friend Alex and I went to NYC. One of the best things about living in DC is that it is not considered crazy for people to go to NYC for a weekend because it only takes 4-6 hours to drive to NYC depending on traffic. We met up with another friend who grew up in NYC. It was really fun because we did a lot of shopping, went to the Museum of Sex, and walked around NYC. As cheesy it sounds, my favorite part of NYC is the Time Squares because of the shopping.

After Thanksgiving break, my world pretty much snapped back to reality, which consisted of four final exams, one pseudo-final exam, three final papers, two swim competitions (Bison Aquas did great in both competitions btw), working several shifts, and hunting for summer internships.

When my junior year began, I had no idea what will happen and etcetera. When I was a freshman, I found it impossible to imagine being a senior let alone a junior because the length of the period between becoming a freshman and becoming a junior felt like an eternity to me. Now when I look back on it, two years are not really that long to me anymore. Time flies rather fast. I mean, my junior year is already halfway gone, and by the end of next semester I will be officially a senior at Gallaudet University. I am not sure what to think about my senior year because every semester at Gallaudet is always unique in its own way. So far I noticed the pattern of college life.

Freshman year- it is a year of new beginnings. We make new friends, we become more responsible, we live in new places and etcetera.

Sophomore year- It is the year of the Sophomore Blues. Sophomore Blues from my own personal definition is a loss of one’s identity. The loss of one’s identity could be connected to not being sure about our majors, the shift in our relationships (of any kind), and being lost. I went through hell last year because I was completely lost- my morals were messed up, I had no idea what to major in. Many people kept pressuring me to major in education. My social life completely changed because I chose to stop hanging out with the wrong crowd that I chose to be friends with during my freshman year. Their actions after I skewed my friendship with them made my life at Gallaudet pure hell, but nonetheless I learned how to survive through it and move on. I will be honest- the Sophomore Blues truly suck, but if it was not for the Sophomore Blues, I would have never discovered my identity, my major (and minors), and what kind of relationships I will like to have with people. Even though I learned a lot last year, I refuse to go through it again. 🙂

Junior year- so far it has been halfway the year, and it is a lot better than my sophomore year because I know who I am, I know what I want to do in the future even though it is kind of vague at times. The most difficult part about this year so far has been trying to find a summer internship.

So in a week I will be flying back to home, and when the spring semester starts, I will be one semester away from being a senior.

I really can’t say anything about what my life will be like when I become a senior because I will probably graduate in Dec 2012 or May 2013, but nonetheless several people in their final year at Gallaudet have told me that the last year at Gallaudet is often the most difficult of all because they have to make life-impacting decisions of what to do with their lives after graduation, which is too soon, and they have to start searching for jobs. Sounds scary, but hey, that is what life is supposed to be. 🙂

Few days before Thanksgiving

I can’t believe that it is nearly December. By January, my junior year will be halfway done, which means that I will be a senior soon. Perhaps too soon. 🙂

Last homecoming my swim team won, and I am proud of my swim team. We went to Maryland to compete against St. Mary’s College. Unfortunately we lost; however, on the bright side we enjoyed the competition because we all worked hard.

The pool at St. Mary's College

I have been busy due to my hectic schedule, which consists of six classes, my job as a RA, and being on the swim team. I recently declared my minor in psychology, and I think I will hold off on declaring my minor in Spanish until next semester because I need to focus on classes and what needs to be done as soon as possible. As of right now I am doing OK in my classes. In a way I am doing good, but at the same time, being a perfectionist, I could have done better when looking back on this semester. In a dichotomous way I am being lazy when it comes to homework and studying for exams, but at the same time I am catching up on homework and studying for exams. Doesn’t make sense? I think so, but hey so far it is kind of working out for me.

I am not going home for Thanksgiving because the airplane ticket is expensive, and it is only a five-days break, so why bother? I will be going home for Christmas anyways. During the Thanksgiving break, I will work and go to New York City on Black Friday. I am excited because it’ll be my second time going to New York City. My friend and I will join up with another friend who lives in Long Island, and she will show us around. We have several plans in NYC, which consists of going to Serendipity 3 (a must for me because it was featured on Oprah), museum of sex, and perhaps going to a deaf event that night.

I haven’t updated in a while! I don’t really have a lot to say because my life surprisingly has been very stable. I have been falling a little behind my schoolwork because it has been one of those “blah” weeks; however, it’s not good because midterms will come up very soon, and I can’t continually ignore my homework. I got a lot of opportunities this month; I went to two job fairs and got very positive responses. The Spanish department is offering a Spain study aboard sign language program next summer, and I really want to go. Luckily I will have a large refund check from Gallaudet, so I am going to use it for the Spain study abroad sign language program. I really really really want to go to Spain for the summer…Especially spending my 22nd birthday in Spain!

I have decided to go ahead and minor in psychology because it is relevant to my future career.

Halfway past September

I haven’t updated in a while. My life has been hectic since the first day I arrived here at Gallaudet this fall. Fall is rapidly catching up to us, and people are starting to wear more and more layered clothes. I have been very busy because I am taking seven classes, I have a job, and I am on the swim team. Because of my busy schedule, I have to use my free time doing homework and spend as much as I can with friends. I’d have to say that the most favorite thing I love about this fall is that I am on the swim team. I started practicing on Sept 9th, and I already lost five lbs. I gained 33 lbs last year, which was totally uncool, so this year I decided to force myself to exercise as much as I can because I don’t want my weight to negatively affect my future especially my health. My goal is to lose 50 lbs by February.

This Tuesday I will finally announce my major in International Studies. I am considering about minoring in Spanish or history, but I am not sure. Maybe I can major in International Studies and double-minor in Spanish and history.

I can’t wait for October to come because it is when the weather becomes cooler and Gallaudet becomes spooky in a good way. I already have a lot of plans for October: go to that haunted prison in Pennsylvania, doing a scary movie marathon, pulling Halloween pranks, going to cemeteries especially Arlington Cemetery, and the hot Sticky Rice date with my suite-mates. I love, love, love, love cemeteries especially in fall and winter, and my friend, a fifth-year student at Gallaudet, has never gone to Arlington Cemetery before. It’s absolutely a must for people living in Washington, DC to visit Arlington Cemetery because we are living in the heart of American politics, and soldiers and nurses buried there were the ones who fought for our country. I don’t often become patriotic, but Arlington Cemetery is a wonderful place for Americans to be proud of their country. My suite-mates have never been to Sticky Rice, a popular sushi restaurant for Gallaudetians, so I promised to take them out on a hot G-rated date in October.

Count your duckies.

I arrived at Gallaudet last Monday in super-super early morning. Perhaps 1am. For few days before I flied out to Gallaudet, I was so nervous about going back to Gallaudet. My time here has been so interesting that I have no idea what to expect from this university for my junior year. Everything changed for the best: academics, work, and social life.

Freshman year- Before Gallaudet, I had dreams of becoming a high school English teacher for the Deaf. I felt that I had the desire to teach people. There was an imaginary burning passion inside me that screamed out, “I want to teach!” I took EDU 150 (Introduction to Education) class my second semester (spring ’09) under Susan Schatz (a good teacher in my opinion), and she made me realize that the dream I wanted was actually my father’s dream. My father has always dreamed that I’d become a teacher for the Deaf someday. My father is not college-educated, and he has never really learned how people in other professions work their way through life to get the careers they have right there at that point. While growing up, I always tried to please my father by being the person he wants me to be. During that year at Gallaudet I learned that I am my own person not the person my father wants me to be. I am my own person. I have my needs and wants, and I should not change who I am for somebody else even if it’s a parent.  I do enjoy teaching, but it is not my passion. I don’t desire to teach. There is so much work involved with the education field, and I know I’ll be miserable as a teacher. As much as my father is a great parent, I am going to follow my own path. People should become teachers because they desire to teach not because their parents expect them to teach for a living. Now by the end of the second semester, which major should I go for?

Sophomore year- I became a RA at Benson Hall- a dorm for freshmen. I definitely learned a lot about myself and the others. It was a really fun, enjoyable year. I struggled a lot with finding out my major in fall ’09. Thanks to my GSR 150 teacher, a Russian Deaf woman from a Deaf family, I figured out what I want to major in. She grew up in Russia during the Soviet Union era. I loved talking to her because she often shared stories of what it was like to grow up as a Deaf person in Russia during the Soviet Union era. Luckily Gallaudet decided to go ahead and establish the new major International Studies. I instantly knew it was the right major for me. I love learning about other cultures and learn how people live their lives. As for my social life, it was really different from my freshman year. I lost a lot of friends but at the same time gained a lot of wonderful friends. I learned that it is OK to be alone or lose friends because in all cases it is better to be alone or lose friends than be in toxic friendships.

Junior year- Gallaudet has formally set up the new major International Studies. There is a possibility that I’d minor or double-major in Spanish. Also, there is another possibility that I’d minor or double-major in history. I don’t know, I haven’t really decided on those majors. All I know that the International Studies major is right for me. My father is still not happy with my decision and he constantly pressures me; however, whenever he pressures me, I immediately stand up for myself. In the end my junior year should be kick-ass.

The first thing I missed about Gallaudet when at home for the summer are the duckies.

Last week of every academic year

I gotta confess something about the last week of every academic year. During the academic year I would work hard to maintain good grades and a high GPA; however, it is always a guarantee that all the burning motivation inside me gets completely flamed out by the last week of each academic year. It is like every time I see the shining light at the end of the tunnel, I automatically give up. Nearly every body I know goes through that.

Sadly I have two essays due tomorrow, and I haven’t begun them. Do not take me wrong; I actually work my ass off, but it is just that the last week is always painful for me. All Gallaudetians who live on the campus always scramble to find a place to keep their stuff through the summer. All of us race to clean our rooms, pack our stuff, finish our final projects, type down essays at the crack of the dawn, and drink a lot of energy drinks. That is exactly why I hate the last week of school.

Six days left of being a sophomore.

‘Allo!

My name is Lisa Craig, and I am currently a sophomore at Gallaudet University even though I don’t exactly consider myself a sophomore anymore since there is only one week of school left. I have been an avid blogger for seven years, and I doubt I will stop blogging any time soon.

I am still astonished that I will be a junior this fall because I still remember the first day of going to Gallaudet pretty vividly. I feel as if the first day of my freshman year was only yesterday, but at the same time it was nearly two years ago.

Anyways, I will do a survey of the questions commonly asked at Gally, so the readers will get an idea of who I am.

Name: Lisa Craig

Class status: Currently a sophomore

Age: Almost 21 years old!  48 days to go, yippee!

Hometown: Benton, Arkansas. I usually tell people that I am from Little Rock because Benton is only 20 miles south of Little Rock, and many people from other states have only heard of Little Rock.

Deaf or hearing family: I am from a Deaf family. In my family there has been fifth generations of Deaf people (according to what my family know so far…), and I am the last generation of Deaf people in my family.

Mainstream or school for the deaf:  I went to Arkansas School for the Deaf the first four academic years of my life, but after that I transferred to a public school in my hometown.

Major: Gallaudet is about to establish a new major called International Studies. I am very excited about it because I have always wanted to travel around the world and help people in need. Hopefully, that major will be fully approved in a month. I am also planning to either minor or major in Spanish in order to boost my communication skills. I fully intend to work in another country some day.

Goals after graduation: I plan to join the Peace Corps and work there for three or four years and then join the FBI or an anti-human trafficking organization. The human trafficking enterprise is the second largest criminal industry in the world. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are more likely to be targeted by human traffickers, so I would like to work with those people some day to help improving their lives. But if my life doesn’t go down that path as I hope it would, ah… I am open to new possibilities.

My plans for Junior year:

1)   Make good grades

2)   Join the swim team

3)   Possibly rush for a sorority

4)   Continually work as a Resident Assistant

5)   Keep up with my Vegetarian diet

I have a lot of things to talk about my time at Gallaudet; however, I will take my time to write those entries, so nobody would be spammed by too many entries in one day.