rambles of last semester

*a nervous Chloe scuttles out from hiding*

Hi, my friends!

See, not totally gone.

I have a rare day off from work in the middle of the week.

I got my life signed away for next semester. Looks like it won’t be quite as intense as the last two semesters, and for that I am very grateful! It will still be full time though, so I’ll still be able to compete, however I should still be able to work during the weekends, and possibly a little during the school week as well.

I’m curious, what are y’all majoring in? What are some things you like to do to keep your stress levels down during the semester?

For me, I ate a lot of ice cream. I’d have an afternoon, or two, where I had enough of a gap between classes that I could run out to Walmart (five minutes away from campus) and grab a pint, then go back to campus and eat it before my next class.

Coffee was my best friend. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through without it.

Also, since hulu is included with my spotify, I would sometimes watch a show called MASH during my gaps when I wasn’t working on homework in the library or grooming horses for my show team responsibilities.

Of course, it helped a lot that most of my classes were fun and I had friends that I’d gotten close to over the past few semesters (most of them have graduated now though).

Although I enjoyed last semester very much, I’m relieved that it is over so I can get into working mode for the summer. Also so that I can actually get some sleep.

It’s funny. Every time I look back on any of the last three semesters I ask myself “how did we survive and not die from all that.” Then turn around and make the next one more challenging.

My first semester I was taking full time classes for the first time, was on the judging team, and was working Monday, Friday, and Saturday nights not getting home until sometimes after 10pm and more often than not, closer to midnight, in addition to having one of my classes end at 9pm in the middle of the school week, then have to drive almost an hour to get home.

My second semester instead of just taking four classes, I took five, had two nights a week where I wasn’t home until 9pm or later, was working weekends and two mornings during the school week. Went to five or six judging competitions, all multiple day events. Changed jobs in the middle of the semester, and missed our family beach vacation.

This past semester, I took full time classes. Was on both the judging and show teams. Working weekends split between two jobs. Picked up a side stint for my boss’ landlord and his wife, did an internship at a breeding barn, and dropped one of my weekend jobs. Was the TA for two classes. Had show team responsibilities during the week to complete. Was out of the house on Mondays and Wednesdays from before 7am to almost 10pm then turned around on Tuesdays and Thursdays and was out from about 8:30am to a little after 8pm. And also the first two-three weeks of classes I couldn’t hear very well because my left ear went practically deaf because I had an ear infection. I competed twice for the show team and once for the judging team. I missed the bus for one of our shows and drove solo for five hours, made up the hour I missed and arrived about two minutes after everyone else did.

Good times, I tell you. XD

What are some of y’all’s favorite school memories? It can be from high school, college, grade school, whatever. Something you look back on and have to smile as you shake your head.