15 November 2008

Update on Life

So, I realize it's been a while since I've blogged about the amazingness that is MIT... Or anything else going on in my life. Which is kind of pathetic, I will agree. I guess I'll just do a massive update, and have it over with. Sorry if this gets really long and verbose...

Classes
Ehhhhh... Yeah. Classes. Well, they're going all right I suppose. I'm actually understanding calculus right now, and could see myself doing really well on the final. Which is a fabulous feeling. What's not looking good is this next week: two exams, a paper, and a presentation. Obviously, I'm not too worried about the presentation or paper (I'm actually incredibly excited for them), but those two exams are going to kill me. I realize that this probably isn't a bad week in the cases of most MIT students, but oh well. I'm just happy that everything isn't quite as overwhelming as it was earlier in the semester.

National Convention
So, I realized I never blogged about Nationals, other than to say what result we got. I apologize for that. Basically, Nationals was a fun time, though a bit stressful. It was nice/strange to see people from home, and nice/strange to be off campus for a week. By the end of the week, I found myself missing MIT, so that was a good sign. Because pictures are worth a thousand words, I'm going to save some space and just post some pictures from the trip instead.
We found these in Chicago. AMAZING.
Chicago was pretty, but cold.
We visited a grain elevator in Indiana, where they had ridiculous amounts of corn and fertilizer.
They took us up on the catwalk above their fertilizer storage, where they have a conveyor belt set up. The stairs and catwalk itself were rather rickety, and it was a terrifying experience...
The current US Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, spoke at one of the convention sessions. He gave a great speech, which included the line, "I felt the excitement in the halls all night long." The entire crowd exploded with laughter when he said that, and he definitely had to wait a few moments before he could speak again. I love it when politicians provide you with "That's what she said" moments (e.g. Sarah Palin's "Drill baby, drill!" line during the vice-presidential debate).
Our team walked away with this! It's kind of sad it doesn't say that we got third on it...
Our super-happy team in Monument Circle in Indianapolis. We were on our way to get ice cream right after the awards banquet.
So, for some reason, I was the only Ag Communications participant to show up to the final session to be recognized on the national stage (I even changed my flight back to MIT to be able to do so) so I was the only one up there with the national officers. It was totally worth it. Oh, and they messed up the plaque they gave me (it had the name of the girl who was third high individual in Ag Sales... oddly enough, her name is Kelsey as well...) so they're sending me another one...

Movies
I've watched a ridiculous number of movies lately. All on the weekends, but still. A ridiculous number of them.
Including...
Yes, you're reading that correctly. Quantum of Solace... at midnight. Awesome, I know. It was a pretty good movie, and I recommend seeing it for the action (certainly not the plot). That, and James Bond is just plain awesome. I also finally saw The Dark Knight last night, thanks to LSC! I thought the movie was just a lot of hype over the summer, but it lived up to its reputation. It was amazingly good. And I can now see why some people saw it multiple times...

Politics
Gordon Smith lost. The school bond failed. Okay, we're all on the same page now...

Life in General
Overall, things are going quite well. This weekend will be spent doing fun things with friends (and studying for those two tests), and there's a chance I'll be in New York next weekend. Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, which means that my friend Joanna will be coming down from her school in Vermont to visit me! I am ridiculously excited. Anyway. After Thanksgiving will be finals, and then I CAN GO HOME. Fortunately, my finals are on the Tuesday and Wednesday of Finals Week, so I am on the first flight home on Thursday. Thank you Dad for scoring those tickets.

HELP WMBR REACH THEIR FUNDRAISING GOAL!!! (Pledge before next Wednesday! Get awesome premiums! Feel good about yourself! Support independent, non-commercial radio!)

No comments: