Well, that's all folks!

The semester is over! Finals week was this past week and now everything has come to a close for the semester. In essence, it was a good semester, and now I only have the spring/summer and the fall left of classes before I student teach next winter. So... to sum up...

- My assessment class was a good class. It was full of practical knowledge, it wasn't too stressful, and my professor was as excited as anyone could possibly be about creating good tests for our subject area. Never have I seen someone have so much fun discussing essay questions. Similarly, I made friends in there which I hope to not lose. Chris, who lives in Saline and works at a restaurant there; Lauren, the other Spanish major in our group who was just as fascinated with Cuban culture as I am with Spanish culture; Heather, who is my ultimate hockey buddy and who is willing to go to a Wings game with me once the prices go down (most likely next season...). All in all, it was a good class!

- Spanish was a great joy. As odd as this sounds coming from a Spanish major, I've never received an A in a college-level Spanish class. I've always had some struggling, but I just would keep coming back for more. Thank goodness for my time in Spain, though, since this is the best my spanish has ever been. It's also helpful that the professor I had was as in love with Spain as I am, and he also has become a professor that I admire and will miss (he's retiring). I couldn't stand him when I got to Eastern, and now I've come to really enjoy classes with him. And, for the first time in my life, a Spanish class was ::gasp:: easy!

- Ah, Edward Sidlow. My American Presidency professor has possibly now trumpted Jeffrey Bernstein as the best professor I've had here. He is immensley knowledgeable on political science and has a wit about him that is perfect. He's aptly scarcastic, but still not politically biased. He shares funny, but pertinent, presidential stories and goes on various tangents that really do relate back to the original topic. Even though he claims that the presidency isn't his forte, he still is a wealth of knowledge. So, what will be my last political science class at EMU? Congressional Procedure with Edward Sidlow.

- As for work? With a smooth adjustment, a good schedule, and even a promotion, it's been a good semester for work. I readjusted well after being away for a semester, and I've come to enjoy my job more and more. I feel more valued and I've gotten closer to co-workers. It's a great job to have, and I'll be sad to leave it in 10 months. eek!

It's been a great semester, and thankfully a fairly relaxing one! None of my classes were too demanding and every one of them was enjoyable in one way or another. What's the biggest sign of happiness in a semester, though? Being sad when you have to miss a class. I had to miss a few during the middle of March and I ended up missing some of my friends as well as what could've been covered in lecture. Nerdy? Maybe. Nonetheless, it's also nice to have a finals week where you don't go completely out of your mind with stress!

Now to Spring and Summer...

Posted by Laura at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I grew up in a household with two older sisters. We didn't have any borthers and I certainly wished that I had had a brother. However, later in my growing up I realized that I actually liked being the youngest and my wish for a brother kinda faded away. However, from early January until last weekend, I got the experience of what it would kind of be like to have a brother.

His name is Thinh (pronounced like "ten") and he is from Vietnam, specifically Saigon (or what they now refer to as Ho Chi Minh City). He's about 25 years old and is studying Hotel and Restaurant Managment. He came to EMU actually because of my older sister, Katherine, who was studying in China at the time they met. Katherine travelled to Vietnam with one of her friends, who happened to be Thinh's sister, and Thinh decided that he'd look into EMU as a good transfer school. He had studied in Vietnam as well as in Canada for a few years, and his English was remarkably good. So, in the very beginning of January, he came to our house to stay for a while until he could get settled into an apartment around EMU.

What a joy he was to have in our house! He's easy to talk to, very bubbly, and picks up jokes and banter amazingly well. He enjoyed seeing the joking relationship that my mom and I have and easily fit right in. We'd spend many nights teaching him about popular American food and just teasing eachother about various things. Thinh soon discovered how wonderful s'mores are and how to effectively use the word "snotty" in a joking reference (I knew he understood it when he used it on me about 5 minutes later). It was great to have younger male influence in our house and to have someone who was just so happy and humorous.

He sadly decided to transfer to a school in Chicago after this semester, and last Saturday we all helped him cram his stuff into my sister's Honda Civic. Even until him leaving, we were still poking fun at each other and enjoying each other's quirks. He vehimently prohibited me from carrying his heavy suitcases, yet he still rolled me through the parking lot on his swivel chair. My mom also reassured him (as well as me) that we'd be down to visit as soon as he felt comfortable in his new apartment and college.

Never have a fully experienced what having a brother would be like, but I feel like I got closer with Thinh. However, the positives are that I have someone to make me great Vietnamese food, I have another reason to go into Chicago, and I will always have a buddy to help me with 500-piece puzzles.

Posted by Laura at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)