Day: Sunday
Feeling:Vegging, I don't know if that's a feeling to be honest.
Currently listening to: "It's Beginning to get to me," Snow Patrol, Eyes open
Goals this week:
- Go to every class.
- Write a better Flame Atomic Absorbance Spectrophotometer lab writeup.
- Write an equally promising Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer lab writeup.
- Lower my BMI to <23, lower body fat to 13%
Academics & Fitness
Well I started classes this semester at UC Denver and this semester has been alright thus far. I have not been sleeping very well lately for some strange reason. I think it's because I've been staying up late doing homework and studying, and staying up late during the weekends drinking or doing homework. Well no shit, I think to myself, but besides that fact;
I've taken a new interest in Chemistry. I am currently enrolled in an Environmental Chemistry course and it makes me see myself have a career in a science field associated with the environment or sustainability. Now I am thinking of grad school, and consequently, I wish I didn't dick around so much in Boulder, ha ha.
I'm taking 18 credits at the moment: Gen cell bio, general genetics, principles of ecology, environmental chem, instrumental analysis & lab. I made the mistake trying to cram all of these courses into Tuesdays and Thursdays and found that they wouldn't all fit. 1 class on M&W, 4 classes, 2 recitations & a lab on Tuesdays (8am-8:50pm fuck...).
I've finally taken the steps to research the classes and grades I need to get to add a minor in Biology & Environmental science to my 'B.S. in Chemistry with a Biochemistry emphasis'.
All of my instructors this semester are fine..-ish.. Some are boring, one's kinda a bitch, one's helpful but gives me shit for no reason, one is .... yeahh, I can't tell if he just doesn't care to teach at all or he just finds it as something he just has to do to get back to his research... oh well.
Biology classes are clearly easier than Chemistry courses. Every bio class I have consists of multiple choice scan-tron tests and possibly a short answer section, whereas every chemistry class I have consists of extremely difficult hand written exams with equations and calculators haha..
I found out that I get to retake calculus based physics 1 & 2 and their associated labs because I was attempting to get a B.A. in Chemistry at CU Boulder and the B.S. program here requires calculus based physics as opposed to algebra based physics. Well technically, that's not true. I can graduate with a B.S. in Chemistry with algebra based physics, but I will not receive my ACS certification. I'll be damned before I let a entry level physics course prevent me from getting that after taking so many Chemistry courses.
Honestly, it does feel strange going back to school to finish a degree. I guess it's because I'm 23 now and there are some students who are 18, 19 who are taking the same classes as me. But I have found quite a few students who are my age and doing the same thing I'm doing, so it doesn't feel so strange. Actually I have found that the easiest way to break the ice with someone is to ask them if they feel old taking these classes, so it works out.
I feel a little light headed at the moment as I just went for a four mile jog in my first attempts to ween off this extra ten pounds of fat that I have accumulated with the glorious pizza, Chinese food, beer and burgers diet that I've been rocking for the last month or so.
Let's see, I'm 5'6'', weighed 148, BMI 23.9 with a 14.9% body fat this morning according to my scale..
Let's see where I end up in a week or so..
Whats new... hmm
I've recently replaced saying "God Damnit" and "Jesus Fucking Christ" and "That's gay" with less offensive comments because I found that it's not as politically correct now then it was when I was an adolescent. Plus as I venture out into the world and meet more people, it seems to piss off more people then I care to deal with. Oh well, C'est la vie.
I quit my job night stocking at a near by King Soopers because I just saw myself unable to find balance in my life with the whole not sleeping bit going to work at 10pm - 6:30am and being downtown at 8am for classes until 4pm.. then sleeping 4 hours and being back at work... Plus that job is fairly physically demanding. My boss couldn't work around my schedule and he was kinda an ass, go figure, most of us were ass-holes on night crew. I suppose I should have turned in a 2 weeks notice because they might rehire me, but as this was my second tour of duty with the King, I'm just done working there.
Recently I have been looking for that "thing" in my life.. The "driving force", "impetus", goal, whatever. I watched a movie Men of Honor and a few videos about David Blaine where he does stupidly difficult endurance events and have finally come to the realization that if I actually try to complete my degree or train to run a marathon and I put my entire heart into it, there's nothing I can't do.
If you want something in life bad enough, there's usually sacrifice. You have to just man up and suck up the hard times, negative thinking, set backs; and someday, if you're committed to a goal, stop doing the shit that impedes you from reaching that goal, and don't give a fuck what anyone else thinks, it'll eventually happen. Oh and drink tons of caffeine and sleep whenever life lets you.
