Small Town Girls' Academic Stress at IIT

कमिंग बेक तो ईट अस अ स्टुडेंट! COMING BACK TO IIT AS A WEATHERED STUDENT!

2010-01-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

Coming back to IIT after Christmas break I realized how much different my life is than people back home and who I was in August. Its fun to be back even though I do miss people back home! Its different here because my parents are not constantly looking over my shoulder and I actually have to make my self study. I also am not as busy without the sports and the millions of activities I did in High School. But its also nice that I can sit down and relax without having to worry about what I am missing. Last semester was far from my best but I have learned a lot of knowledge for graduation but also about life. IIT has made me a much weathered student and here a just a few quick fact on how!!

In an earlier blog i said i had an awesome schedule, not getting up till 10 getting done by 3pm and not having class on Fridays...but that is so not true. I learned a very important lesson if you want to sleep in till 10 Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays register EARLIER or u get up at 8:00 or sooner for class. I now have my calculus class at 8:35 am and class on Fridays...grrr. But lesson one of 3.

In high school I took hard classes and studied for them, but half of my classes I could do the homework in the class before and still be fine. Here its the other way around, I'm taking some of the easier classes offered but have to work 3x as hard as before. I have to actually study which I guess is making it easier to goof of and not do my work. But I'm changing that this semester and trying not to finish my homework the day of and trying to make it at least the day before if possible. Lesson 2 of 3.

The final lesson is how to have fun. I have enjoyed all of the socialization here at IIT!! I mean I still have fun with my friends back home but I think I am having way more fun than I did before!! Its exciting to go to Chicago in less than a few minutes and just go exploring!!! Its also fun to hang out on my dorm floor too!! We have so many memories that it would be hard to narrow it down to a couple. But to highlight some weekly occurrences!! Floor study parties!! NERF GUN WARS!! mainly shooting at each other then throwing the darts at each other!! and the best is staying up talking way past all of our bedtimes!!! Lesson 3 of 3 and by far the most important!!

Even though its only been a four months I officially am certified to talk about IIT... even though I have been doing that for like four months. I have enjoyed last semester but this semester is gonna be awesome!!!

But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls

SPRING REGISTRATION AND APPLICATION OVERLOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-02T11:45:00.001-08:00

Neat and Tidy, My schedule for next semester! I'm glad to start registering soon for next semester! Its been fun with this schedule but the time to change is almost now! I have a cool schedule that takes blocks of the day rather than having on class then a block of time! I will still be taking 17 credits but it seems like some of the stuff will be easier! Even with all of these cool things that could have happened i guess procrastination is even better!! I didn't register till 3 days ago!! I'm excited for the end of semester but the even cooler part is that Christmas is coming! I cant wait!!! only 7 more days till I'm home!!
Another moment of thought!! We had a record High (at least for the days that i have worked) of new folders to be created!! The high was 69!! The folders are where we put in the students applications and other materials!! Its pretty cool to see all of these people looking at IIT! I hope that many of them do decide to come, because IIT is really cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool! The week is also finals, and now i know why so many people go crazy!! Its fun to try and remember stuff, but its also hard to sit down and do the remaining assignments or papers that have to be turned in for grading. Everyone around me is so stressed but that may be because most of my friends forget to study till the last minute!! I'm stressed but relaxed because of the fact that in most of my classes they are repeats of what I had in high school, except a lot more in depth! Thank you Mr. Hodges, and Mrs Fahey for making me learn Chemistry and Calculus!! I'm also glad for my other teachers to, even though i thought i wouldn't use most of the things i learned its surprising what you end up needing!!

But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls

FALL BREAK!!!

2009-10-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!! I am so happy to be having the day off of school!!! Last week was crazy!! School actually started on Sunday...usually that would be a big pain, but it was for a concert! How many classes do you actually get to go to a concert for credit? For my American Composers class (Its not a Vandercook Class) we went to watch 'The Carolina Chocolate Drops'! Everyone in the class doubted that it would be any fun. We were all suprised and most of enjoyed the show! The whole performance was ad-lib so nothing was planned and they were talking and joking with each other and the audience the whole time! The rest of the week was filled with everything!! Every class had something due, or important to learn. I learned that this block of code is

while (stringEntered != “apple”)

{

cout << “Enter a red fruit: “;

cin >> stringEntered;

}

while (stringEntered != “banana”)

{

cout << “Enter a yellow fruit: “;

cin >> stringEntered;

}

while (stringEntered != “pomegranate”)

{

cout << “Enter a random fruit: “;

cin >> stringEntered;

}

FRUIT LOOPS!!
Its a bunch of loops with fruit intergers! Lame but kinda funny!! We did PV=nRT in chemistry! I remember doing it in High School and most importantly how to do it!! Yeah me and thanks Mr. Hodges! It was kinda fun to have stuff to do but it was lame to have so much HW!! but no school today totally makes up for it! Yeah for the three day weekend!!

The weekend has been a lot of fun with a whole range of things to do! We had movie night with a 'Z', we watched "Zoom: Academy for superheros, and had Zippy Zachos! I love movie night!! Its so much fun just relaxing with friends with a meal in your tummy and a funny movie to watch!!

But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls

HOMECOMING!!! BLOCK PARTY!

2009-09-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

OMG! Homecoming week has been difficult but fun! This was our first week of midterms, man am i glad to get those out of the way! I am glad to already be this far into school, but it is kinda stinky that I'm taking important tests while most of my friends just started school this past Wednesday. In the long run i will eventually have way more fun during my long summer!! But back to the homecoming events!!! The week started with window painting!! I was so happy to get to help one of the groups! Its really cool to walk around campus and see all of the different spirit group windows! The week was filled with events ranging from a club night to flag football. The other cool things were the volleyball game and the main event of the Men and Women's Soccer game! All of our teams did really well beating all opponents in seemingly flawless performances. To end the week, one of the coolest events by far, there was a ginormous carnival!!! It was sooo much fun!! I volunteered to help set up and got to try out all the rides before everyone came!! We had a rock climbing wall, mazes, jumping houses, wrecking ball, laser tag, gladiator wars, and moon walks. The best one ever was the bungee run!! I was so much fun to run and then get pulled back by the bungee cord!! It was a lot of fun watching everyone enjoying the different toys big kids love toys too!!!

But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls

Three weeks in....

2009-09-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Wow!! What an amazing time this has been...amazing but crazy. I have had so many things that I want to do, and its relatively easy to do them all. I am joining SHPE, AIAA, and a couple other clubs and organizations. Its so much fun to be involved here at IIT, everyone is being so helpful and open to questions... I have had a lot of those!! One of the best things is all the friends I have found...mainly guys...but thats to be expected at a school with only 33% women. They also are as diverse as the world... South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, Ethiopia just to name a few! And I cant forget the states with Cali, Colorado, Rhode Island, NY, and so many others!! What a big world we live in!

The classes are pretty good! Except for the occasional nod off...calculus...they are way more fun than most of my high school classes!! I love my Intro to the Proffesion (ITP) because we bring cookies if were late, we are going to build rockets soon, and my proffesor is totally rockin!!! The supprising fun class is my American Composers, I am actually learning US history, but with a musical twist! Its almost better than AP History! All the others are a little more of the same with the calc and chem. My computer programming class is getting a little trickier... I can actually write my own program!! go me!!!

However the better part of Mon, Wed, and Fri, are working!! This is so much cooler than other things. I get to lead tours as soon as I get certified, and i get to work on this blog...just kidding about the blog though. I am enjoying an office job even though I have only worked a couple of days...like three including today!!!!
I miss everything back home...but not homesick kind....the fair food, my blue boat, friends, and family. Christmas, and Thanksgiving are coming soon though!! But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls

AAAAHHHH!!! To much to do... to much information!! (In a good way!)

2009-08-21T18:07:00.001-07:00

The last couple weeks before I left for Chicago and the magnificent IIT I was a chicken with its head cut off. I was excited, sad, and driving every one crazy!! My party was the best because I saw how many people care for me not just in Ellensburg, but from across the state. I loved chatting with everyone and having one final shindig in e-burg. Thank you to every one who came you were soooo much fun!
The journey to Chicago was super long. My mom, dad, joy and I left Ellensburg at about 3am...I don't think I have been going that early in forever. The plane ride to Chicago was also long but nice because I slept most of the way. When i was not sleeping I chatted with the women next to me who was coming to Chicago to take her international dentistry test. She was very wonderful to talk to with lots of fun things to say about Engineering and life in general! I hope she did well on her test. That same day was check in and registration...we went through these and i met my roommate Sydney Wiilliams!! We have had so much fun getting to know each other and the families that come with each!! Go Lewis 311 moms!!!! I am so glad my mom came!! She and Lexie made so much happen!! (Lexie is Sydneys mom!) Thanks!!
The first day of Freshman Orientation here at IIT was just like sitting in on the first days of High School.You don't do anything other than listen to the different speakers talk. However, we had a little more fun because we were meeting people from all over the world. I am so glad that I did the International Orientation session because there are so many awesome individuals coming to IIT. I met people form Dubai, Israel, Cameroon, and many other places, each with their own stories. But above all the BOG was the best with the ping pong and the bowling!!!
The Ambassador training was more of the same but a lot more fun cuz it was funny but serious!! I cant wait to start!!
The last couple of days I have remembered a lot of things Chicago reminds me of. The biggest is what a big world this is and how much friends and family matter. I am excited for school but cant help remeber some of the things i learned from EHS!!! But as the Day Ends here I must stop to pray for another day and stop typing!! Have a wonderful time in all your doings!!
Love and Blessings
Shirls