7 down, 1 more to go

The End.

I'm beginning my post with the end of another semester. I was originally going to title this post, "1 down, 1 more to go", but then I thought about it, and realized, "Noooooo..... Actually, I've gone through seven semesters at Coe."

This is ridiculous!

When on EARTH did I go through seven semesters? It feels long enough and too short at the same time. Long enough because you feel like your whole life has been school, school, school. But short enough to realize that out of all that school, college seemed to have gone the fastest. 

So I thought I might dedicate this post to a little reflection. I am going to name the three best moments of the seventh semester, and the three worst. 

The Three BEST Moments of Sakinah's Seventh Coe Semester:

1. Interview with Iowa State Graduate College- This was extremely memorable because it occurred the day after labor day. I was definitely feeling out the college. I couldn't believe how MUCH research this college had going on that related to what I wanted to do with my life. But of course, having what you want to study is only the beginning. My mother told me from her graduate school experiences that fitting in with the right mentor and lab and school is really what counts and that visits were more important now than ever before. My interviews with Iowa State left me elated. Not only were the research prospects and the research facilities wonderful, but the PEOPLE there were exactly what I was looking for. My advisor told me that it's a good sign that when I can find a place where there is more than one person I would want to work with. It's probably an even better sign when you have no idea who you would want to work with specifically because so many of the mentors and their labs are wonderful and exciting!

2. Random Moments with the Roommates- I live in an apartment with three girls who I can officially say I love. The first roommate, Sara, was my resident when I was an RA (Resident Assistant) my sophomore year. I remember having to be the ear for her and her other roommates at the time when they got into their skirmishes. From her, I met Blondie (real name is Melissa, Blondie is a nickname) and Jeanice. Jeanice was actually in my First Year Seminar, but we never really hung out. However, I secretly remember thinking that if I were to live in an apartment, I would want to live with those three. I thought they may have had a fourth person picked out, but when they asked me, I was elated. We have our roommate moments, but there was never really any BAD moments in the apartment, and I always enjoy coming home to the randomness with the ladies!

3. Night out with the Girls I went out one night on a girls night to go dancing with some of my gal pals. It was an interesting combination of my friends who didn't really know or hang out with the others. But there were so many memorable moments that night and it was a LOT of fun!!

The Three WORST Moments of Sakinah's 7th Semester at Coe

1. My Last P Chem Quiz- This was a true bummer. I felt that I had studied my life away for this exam, and ended up doing horribly. It's a really bad feeling when you have to wonder where exactly the limitations of your understanding is... not to worry, though. I do believe it was due to high stress and feeling overwhelmed.

2. Doing about 10-15 Minutes Under my Required Senior Seminar Talk Time- Let me just put it this way: you anticipate and practice to do something nearly perfect for the longest time, and then you just talk too fast. It's a sucky feeling.

3. Being too busy to work enough to make some money- I know school is a full time job. But in the past, I was able to balance a job as well. This semester, I made the least amount of money ever because I had very little time to work due to my academic pressures. Now... I need a job.

Now I have one more semester left... my last days as a college students.... what on EARTH can I do to fill them with memorable moments???

I'm sure I could think of a few things.... snowboarding, sledding with friends, movie and hot chocolate nights, bonfires off campus, as well as a first-ever Spring Break trip and the anticipation of hearing from grad schools and finding out where I am going to end up in life! Oh wow, I'm finally going to grow up!