Life Update: How's Sophomore Year
I have been at JMU for my sophomore year for a week now and I can already tell I am in for 16 weeks of long days, late nights, and tons of study hours. I got to live stream for the first time in forever the other day, and even though I was only on for about 20 minutes, the most asked question was how is everything going at school. For those who missed the live stream or those who are very curious to read about my school year so far, here is a general run down of how the past week has gone and what the rest of the semester is going to look like.
I am taking six classes this semester, one of them is a connecting lab to my intro to communications course though. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have three classes. At 8am, I kick of the day with my music class (MUS200). It is a general education course that I am required to take in order to graduate college. This is because JMU is a liberal arts college so you have to learn something from every subject area. The music class fulfills my arts requirement. This class is a music in general culture course which means we study music, composers, and musical vocabulary. So far, it's not too challenging but my choir background has really helped me when it comes to the musical vocabulary. I can read a music scale, I understand the orchestra, as well as vocal terms. Later in the year, we will have to memorize classical pieces which I know will be tricky but, for now the professor is really enthusiastic and makes an 8AM worth going to.
My second class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays is my English class (ENG236). This is a british literature class that spans the 1800's all the way through the modern era. It is another one of those general education courses that I have to take so there was no way getting around taking an English class. As much I do enjoy reading, I find analyzing older texts really challenging so I'm a little nervous about this class. It's taught by two professors who are again, very enthusiastic about teaching and seem ready to answer questions and host office hours. Out of all of my classes, this one is the one that I think I'll spend the most time on out of class because of how much reading we have to do.
My third and final class of the day is my Intro to Communications class (SCOM240 & 241). I have 240 on Mondays and Wednesdays which is the lecture portion of the class and on Friday I have my 241 class which is connecting discussion. This means that on Monday and Tuesday we listen to lectures and take notes and on Friday we have quizzes, presentations, and discussion in smaller groups. This I can tell is going to be a really challenging course. There are only six grades for the entire semester so I need to make sure that I succeed at every assignment. There is no homework or anything, just a few quizzes and a midterm and a final. This class is my most important of all of them because theses are the ones I need in order to apply to my communications major. What some people don't know about college is that when you decide on your major, you sometimes still have to apply to that major. Whether you get accepted is based off GPA and classroom performance and yes, you can get rejected meaning you have to pick a different major. It's very stressful and I know that this class is really going to challenge my study skills.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes, both at opposite ends of the day. I start my morning with a 9:30 Biological Anthropology class (ANTH196). This class is another general education course that I have to take but because I am taking this class, I don't have to take physics which is really all I care about. This class already seems to be fairly simple. It's a lot of facts to memorize but as long as I make some Quizlets and study I'll be fine. The quizzes are open notes and the final is optional. There is literally no reason to not do well in this class. What's really nice is that my sister, Lisa, and I have the class together. We can sit together and study together which relaxes me a little. It's nice to know someone in my class!
My second and last class of the day is Heath 100 (HTH100). Yep, you guessed it, another general education course. By this time next year though, I will be finished with general ed classes and I can focus on my major. Health is another class of memorizing simple information and logging in hours at the gym. Simple. The only catch is that the class is at 5PM meaning that I get to spend almost six hours on campus just waiting for my next class. Catching a bus home and then another back is such a hassle so I just stay on campus. When work starts up next week, I will fill few of those hours with a shift at the library but it's a nice time to study at the library and not be distracted by napping in my bed at home.
When I'm not studying I'm at the sorority house attending meetings. We start recruitment on Thursday so since last Friday we have basically been spending all of our time not in class on the row. Yesterday we had a five hour workshop about recruitment, we have another four hour one today and a four hour one tomorrow. We might have one Wednesday and then recruitment starts Thursday which will basically be from four to eleven or twelve each night. This upcoming weekend we are there from nine in the morning through 9 at night. It's going to be a super busy weekend which is why whenever I have a chunk of free time I'm doing next week's homework. We won't have time to do homework this weekend or on Monday night to today and Wednesday are all I have to get six days of homework done.
Once the week is over though, things will calm down a lot and I will start my job at the library. I will be working 10-12 hours each week but my schedule allows me to have the weekend off which is a luxury I wasn't sure I was going to be able to have. I also will be working with one of my best friends from high school which is another luxury. Seriously, the power of knowing someone right off the bat is so strong.
While all of this is happening, I am still blogging every day (or at least trying to). There definitely will be some days where I won't be able to care out and hour or so to write and get photos but once recruitment is over, I should have a lot more time on my hands. Also, there has been an absence of outfit photos on the blog and Instagram, I am fully aware and I hate that I haven't had time to go out and shoot outfits. I have established a partnership with an on campus photographer (& fellow ADPi) and she will be helping me with outfit posts and traveling to shoot locations a few times a month to help me bring you all constant content each week.
I am also living in an apartment this year, as far as that is going I really like my roommates. I moved in without knowing any of them and they're all extremely kind and so great to be around. I do have my own room so if I ever feel like I need a little but of time to myself or just need to be alone to decompress, I can do that in privacy. That was the one downside to dorm life I thought, was the fact that there was not place to go to be alone if I needed it. I also have my own bathroom which is so nice. I have never had my own bathroom before so this is a luxury that is new to me, but I love it! Because I am living off campus, I don't have a meal plan which means I get to cook everything and let me tell you, I am a horrible cook. I shouldn't say horrible but I am a "cook pre-cooked meals on a budget" chef. I am planning sharing my entire shopping list with you in it's own post and how I make a healthy meal prep all while saving money and time but for now just know, I make really great frozen ravioli.
I am really looking forward to all that sophomore year has to offer me especially now that I can focus on just me and my major. I don't have anything else distracting me really. I feel that this semester has a lot of potential and I can't wait to share more with you as the months progress!
xx,
Lucy
