Its cold......too cold

So I was all set to go to Walmart. Me and Brandon Hosch walked all the way out to D lot, crossed the frozen tundra that is wartburg campus and made it to Brandons car. The only problem, it wouldnt start. Brandon got in and turned the key and.....nothing.....not even lights from the battery. His car was COMPLETELY dead. I now began to get nervous about my own car, a 2004 Jeep Liberty with over 120,000 miles on it. When I got to my car, the lights for the battery and the radio came on, but it failed miserably to turn over. I wasnt truly disappointed though, considering it was -20 out at the time. At least my car showed some life, I mean, Brandons was done for. Hopefully if it warmed up 20 degrees then it would start, if not grudgingly. It never even occurred to me that on Thurs I would not be able to leave campus, that I would get stuck here. I called my mom and told her about the situation, and if Thurs rolls around she promised that somebody would pick me up if it is still struggling. Luckily at Wartburg, Security can give you a jump if you need it, so if the time comes and it fails, I can always count on them. Whatever the case, Iam getting home somehow on thurs. I dont care if I have to go through the seven circles of hell itself, I will get leave wartburg, and I will go home......hopefully.

All or nothing

There here, finals, and I cant wait for them to be over. I feel very well prepared for all of them, like even the worst I could possible do would be a B, yet Iam so nervous. Everybody is talking like they are a big deal and how hard they have been studying, but I have been approaching them like any other test, except studying a couple days in advance, something I never usually do. Hopefully I can close out this year on a high note, with some confidence heading into next year. It already feels like break is here, and I just want to go home, but I have four tough days left, so I have to stay focused and hope for the best. Thankfully, I have only one final per day and after wednesday, my hard ones are all over. I just have to keep it up, to maintain the same fire I had all year, and I will be able to say I'am officially a college student, my trial by fire will be over. This semester at Wartburg has been a constant challenge. I have had to be on my A game all year to keep up, and to not let any big assignments get past me. Calculus has been by far my most challenging course. I dont know why, but Calculus is such a hard subject to grasp. Many times throughout the year I have doubted my own abilities in that class, wondering if Iam really cut out for Pre-Medicine. If I hold on, and even pull off a B in that class, I will be happy, because it has taken everything for me to succeed in that class. All throughout high school I was told how hard Calculus was to grasp, and even that I would not be able to handle it. If I pass this class, in my mind I will have silenced all those doubts. I will have taken my weakness head on, and succeeded. Just four more days left, its all or nothing.

Last full week

I really cant wait for this week to be over. When this week is done, I will be done with one class, and have three tests to take before hitting the dusty trail: one major calc test, and two normal non-stressful chem and bio tests. I;am really excited to get the week started, and to finish up my major IS paper and presentation. thankfully, iam nearly done with my paper and the presentation is shaping up to be unique and entertaining. As far as Calculus goes, all I can do is study and pray, nothing more, nothing less. Right now, it seems like I have too much to do, but I know that as the week progresses and I get more done I will start to feel better. To me, this is crunch time, this is when most college kids fold up and ruin all the hard work they have put in over the year with one last terrible test. These finals can completely ruin a persons grade, and I do not want to get my grade at the end of the semester and wish I had done better. With things as they are, I feel like I will finish the year with 3 A's and a B, but you never know what can happen. Overall, I will be disappointed if I dont finish that way, so Iam putting my best foot forward to get things done this week. The way I see it, with my current study/work method, i get to bed at 11, dont start working on stuff till after dinner, and still get everything done, so if worst comes to worst I can always stay up late, work in between classes, work after calculus until dinner, the list goes on and on. In summary, Im definitely nervous about the week, but that little voice inside me tells me everything will be just fine.

Cross Country end of the year football (and the pain im in)

On Saturday, at 8:01 am, the annual intersquad tackle football match between the upper and lower classmen on the cross country team began. Cross country athletes, going toe to toe on the frozen tundra of wartburg's football field fighting for glory, bragging rights, and in the case of freshman battling just not to sustain a major injury. All week long the trashtalking was going on (we didnt mean any of it, it was all in good fun), and my place on the underclassmen team was guaranteed. We knew the upperclassmen would take the biggest, strongest sophomores to even the lineups and on game day they selected josh hones and parker comentino, two guys you do not want to see coming at you full speed. When the game began, I took my spot on the line, as lack of real catching skills pretty much guaranteed I would stay there the whole game. Our line took some time to develop a rhythm, but when the first half ended and we found ourselves down by a touchdown (thanks to a score on defense by us), and with hope that perhaps the game would be closer than first thought. But as the second half got under way something happened, our line began to systematically dominate their line!!! Every play, we managed to break somebody free for a shot at the quarterback, and because of this the upperclassmen never managed to get an offense going. Then, we made huge plays on defense, one pick six, and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown followed by a successful two point conversion put us up by 10 with less than a half an hour to go. The upperclassmen were appalled, they couldnt figure out why they could get nothing going on offense. The snowy conditions definitely helped us, as they constantly tried to air the ball out, to no avail. In the end, we won, thanks to three huge defensive touchdowns (one offensive) and big key stops, for the second time in the history of the tradition, the freshman/sophomore team won the football game. This morning, i couldn't put on my shoes without sitting, and it hurts not only to type this message but also to laugh, or breathe sharply, if you saw me walking you would think i had been in a car accident, but it was all worth it.