CEGEP
Wow, my little sister is already in her last year of high school, as will have to fill out her CEGEP application soon. She's planning to check out some open houses in the following week; I'm planning to tag along for the John Abbott open house. Perhaps I'll run into some of my old teachers (though most of them probably don't even remember me anymore; after all, I was one hell of a quiet person!).
It's a bit funny how my sister's classmates are really freaking out about CEGEP; they're all worrying about what program to take, which CEGEP to attend, etc. Apparently, one fellow has actually been losing sleep because he's so worried about it! lol! Also, their teachers are making a huge fuss about it, spending numerous lectures talking about what options are available for them, and getting them to take all sorts of personality tests. It's good, of course, so that they're not totally clueless about planning their future, but it's funny how these exercises are supposed to reassure them, but they're freaking out instead, lmao.
All this talk about CEGEP sure brings back memories (both good and bad). I went into the Science program, without really considering whether or not it was what I really wanted to do. Everyone would say, "Oh, you're smart, so you should go into Science," and I just figured, "Okay, I guess I should." It got pretty tough at times (or rather, MANY times), but I'm sure that things would've been tough no matter what domain I studied. I don't regret going into Science, as I'm generally pretty interested in it (except for Calculus III, ack!!!). I remember how I would sometimes be sleeping only 4 hours a night, because of all the work I had to do; that really sucked, obviously (one time, I was up until 5 am working on a Cal 3 assignment). I had a lot of problems with stress, and I'd be complaining A LOT and losing my temper over the workload. Hmm, come to think of it, CEGEP mostly sucked! Heh, but admittedly, I wasn't very good at managing my time properly.
But hey, there are some good things for me to look back upon: I made it onto the Honour Roll for all four semesters, and I graduated with honours in Honours Science. I was so happy on my graduation for making it out alive, lol!
What's rather strange is that, despite my being in university (where you would think I'd have even MORE work and thus even LESS sleep), I'm actually getting more rest than in CEGEP; I usually go to bed at 10:30 nowadays (compare that to my bedtime of midnight in CEGEP). I guess I'm a lot better at managing my time now ^_^. Though I still have room for improvement (I tend to slack off during most of Saturdays).
I think I'm just gonna cut this blog short and hit the sack; almost midnight, and I need to spend the entire day tomorrow working on my GIS and Remote Sensing assignments. G'night!
One of those e-mail surveys
I haven't filled out one of these surveys in a while, so what the hey: ^_^
// Series One - Yourself
-- Name:Muriel
-- Birthdate: June 7, 1983
-- Birthplace: Montreal
-- Current Location: Beaconsfield
-- Eye Color: Dark brown, almost black
-- Hair Color: Black
-- Righty or Lefty: Righty
-- Zodiac Sign: Gemini
-- Innie or Outtie: innie
// Series Two - Describe
-- The shoes you wore today: Blue running shoes from some company called Cheetah
-- Your hair: Almost-shoulder-length, straight/slightly-wavy
-- Your eyes: Uh, black?
-- Your weakness: I'm overly concerned with what people think of me
-- Your fears: Being lost in the woods or any place where no one will ever find me
-- Your perfect pizza: All-dressed
-- One thing you'd like to achieve: Hang-gliding! ^_^
// Series Three - What Is
-- Your most overused phrase on AIM: don't use AIM
-- Your thoughts first waking up: 5 more minutes!
-- The first feature you notice in the opposite sex: eyes
-- Your best physical feature: err, I have poor self-image!
-- Your bedtime: 10:30
-- Your greatest accomplishment: Doing well in school? I dunno...
-- Your most missed memories: Lying on the grass with friends on a sunny summer day, watching the clouds go by
// Series Four - You Prefer
-- Pepsi or coke: Coke
-- McDonald's or Burger King: Gross, neither!
-- Single or group dates: Um, no comment
-- Adidas or Nike: Adidas
-- Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee (though I also really like French-Vanilla Cappucino)
-- Bras or Panties, boxer or briefs: What kind of a question is this?!
// Series Five - Do You
-- Smoke: No
-- Cuss: yeah, it's a bad habit
-- Take a shower everyday: Kind of
-- Have a crush(es): Yes
-- Do you think you've been in love: no
-- Want to go to college: already in college
-- Like high school: Ack! High school sucked!
-- Want to get married: Possibly
-- Believe in yourself: No, I have really low self-esteem and self-confidence
-- Think you're a health freak: No
-- Get along with your parents: Most of the times
-- Like thunderstorms: Yeah! They're cool!
//Series Six - In The Past Month, Did/Have You
-- Drank alcohol: Yeah, on the field trip to Sutton...and again during the dinner party with the Geography student society
-- Smoke(d): No
-- Have Sex: No
-- Made Out: No
-- Go on a date: No
-- Go to the mall?: I probably did
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No
-- Been on stage: No
-- Been dumped: No
-- Made homemade cookies: No
// Series Seven - Have You Ever
-- Played a game that required removal of clothing: What! No!
-- If so, was it mixed company:
-- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
-- Been caught "doing something": Doing what?
-- Been called a tease: no
-- Gotten beaten up: No
-- Shoplifted: No
-- Changed who you were to fit in: Ugh, all the time. I spend too much time trying to be the person everyone else wants me to be. And then people take advantage of my kindness >:(
// Series Eight - The Future
-- Age you hope to be married: 26-30 would be ok
-- Numbers and Names of Children: 2 kids (1 boy and 1 girl); Alexia, and I haven't thought of a boy's name yet
-- Describe your Dream Wedding: In a nice little church with about 60 guests, and the priest/minister will say, "Bring forth the ring, Frodo," when it's time for the ring exchange, lmao ~_^
-- How do you want to die: Painlessly
-- Where you want to go to college: I'm content with McGill
-- What do you want to be when you grow up: Eek, I don't know! :o
-- What country would you most like to visit: France
// Series Nine - Opposite Sex
-- Best eye color? no preference
-- Best hair color? light brown is nice
-- Short or long hair?: I dunno
-- Best height: I dunno
-- Best articles of clothing: How about a 'Captain of Gondor' outfit, like Faramir? lol ^_^
-- Best first date location: Rivendell (if only it existed!)
-- Best first kiss location: Ditto
// Series Ten - Number Of
-- Number of boyfriends: I ain't tellin' you! >:(
-- Number of girlfriends: None
-- Number of people I could trust with my life: my family and a couple of my friends
-- Number of CDs that I own: between 20-30
-- Number of piercings: 4
-- Number of tattoos: 0
-- Number of scars on my body: a few little ones
-- Number of things in my past that I regret: Too many to count, man!
// Sereis Eleven - The Last...
-- Movie you rented? It (that horror movie based on the novel by Stephen King, hehe)
-- Movie you bought? Lilo & Stitch
-- Song you listened to: Going Under by Evanescence
-- Song that was stuck in your head? Let's Get It Started by The Black Eyed Peas
-- Song you've downloaded? Don't remember
-- CD you bought? The Book of Secrets by Loreena McKennitt
-- CD you listened to? Under My Skin by Avril Lavigne
-- Books you have bought? The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
-- Person you've called? don't remember
-- Person that's called you? don't remember (I can never remember little things like this)
-- TV show you've watched? X-Men: Evolution! Yeah baby!!!
-- Person you were thinking of? (Like, REALLY thinking of? Or just a passing thought?) Hell, I don't remember
// Series Twelve - Misc.
-- You have a b/f or g/f?: No
-- You have a crush on someone? Sort of
-- You wish you could live somewhere else? Yeah, like Middle-Earth
-- You think about suicide?: no
-- You believe in online dating? Er, that's not for me
-- You want more piercings? I'm thinking of getting a third pair of piercings on my ears
-- You want more tattoos? No
-- You drink? Occasionally, and always responsibly
-- You do drugs? No
-- You smoke? No
-- You like roller coasters? DO I EVER!!!
-- You write in cursive or print? I write down my class notes in cursive, and I print when legible writing is a must (e.g. for exams)
-- You carry a donor card? not yet
// Seriies Thirteen - For Or Against...
-- Long distance relationships? I'm indifferent
-- Using someone: That's mean!
-- Suicide? Let's not get into that
-- Killing people? Only in self-defense
-- Teenage smoking? Against
-- Doing drugs? Against
-- Driving drunk? Totally against!
-- Gay/lesbian relationships? If it's not hurting anyone, I don't see the problem
// Series Fourteen - Favorite...
-- Soap operas? Don't watch soaps
-- Food? Lobster
-- Song? Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
-- Thing to do? Thrill rides!!!
-- Thing to talk about? Lord of the Rings and X-Men
-- Sport? Hockey, martial arts, figure skating (not that I can actually do any of these, but I like watching them)
-- Drink? Chocolate milk
-- Favorite shoes: I dunno...dark-coloured running shoes?
-- Band? Evanescence
-- Holiday? Christmas, I guess
// Series Fifteen - What Are You Right Now...
-- Shampoo do you use? Fructis
-- Perfume do you use? Clinique Happy Heart
// Series Sixteen - In The Past 24 Hours Have You
-- had a serious talk? Not really
-- hugged someone? No, I have a cold right now!
-- fought with a friend? no
-- cried? No
-- laughed? yeah
-- made someone laugh? yeah
-- bought something? No
-- cut your hair? No, I cut my hair once a year :o
-- felt stupid? Do I ever NOT feel stupid?
-- talked to the one you love? Um, no
Man, what's with me and leaving my blog in a coma? This has got to be the first update in, what, three months?? It's Thanksgiving weekend, and lucky me, I'm stuck with a yucky cold. This is probably because on Thursday night, I fell asleep really early with only one thin blanket (the nights have been getting colder lately), and I woke up with a stuffy nose.
Now that we're just about halfway through the semester, school work is really starting to pile on. Last week, I had two mid-terms, two assignments, and as an additional bonus, I was away all weekend as part of a field course (so I obviously couldn't get much studying done during the weekend). I managed to make it out alive, fortunately, as I worked my ass off before and after the trip to compensate for those lost working days. I showed up to the lab on Friday to get some samples analyzed (one of the grad students whom I helped during the summer still has a bunch of samples that need to be done, and I agreed to come to the lab during my spare time); when I told the technician how hectic my past week was, he said, "Then why come to the lab today? Take the day off!" I suppose I COULD have decided to take the day off, but heck, I'm getting paid for this, and some extra cash is good ^_^.
Last weekend's field trip to Sutton was a pretty interesting experience. We covered many aspects of human and physical geography; let's see if I can remember everything we covered:
- the topography of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Appalachians and the Monteregian Hills
- fluvial geomorphology
- forest regeneration
- tourism
- settlement patterns (past and present)
- small-town economy
- agriculture and farming
I'm probably forgetting some more stuff. Anywho, the fluvial geomorphology stuff was pretty interesting. We measured and plotted a cross-section of the Sutton River (the portion we measured was more like a stream, though), and we measured the river's discharge. This involved some wading around inside the stream (so high-neck boots were a must), and trying not to slip on the algae-covered rocks. I liked it, though; I find I'm really interested in fluvial geomorphology (my favorite lectures would usually involve that domain), so that's one possible field I could specialize in for grad school or something.
For two exercises, we had to actually go out and interview people. On the first day, we went to an industrial area in Cowansville to ask people working there about their company, the town's economy, etc. Each team of two or three had to have at least one French 'interpreter', in case the interviewee didn't speak English (I was one of the interpreters ^_^. I was a bit worried that the people would have trouble understanding my Anglo accent). The second such exercise involved asking people in Sutton about the town's tourist industry. My group (we were four gals) had pretty good success in the exercise, although admittedly we did meet some...peculiar guys at a gas station. We decided to go talk to a pair of guys (probably in their mid-20s) at a gas station, and when we asked them about tourism in Sutton, they kept saying, "There's nothing to do around here except ski and smoke weed!" and they would repeatedly make references to smoking weed throughout the interview. It also seemed as if they were trying to pick us up, too *shudders*.
Another part of the trip that was tons of fun was on the second night, when there was a DJ at the hotel's bar! After everyone finished writing up the reports for the day, most of us went to hang out at the bar, although for the first couple of hours, nobody had the guts to go up on the dance floor. (As an aside note, I get rather tipsy after only two drinks! Maybe it's because I'm a relatively small person, and I don't drink often, so I have a low alcohol tolerance) Me and a few other people were totally begging the others to come and dance (as no one wanted to be the first one up), but many of them kept making excuses ("Uh, I'm not ready yet", "I need a bit more to drink", "I'll come when there's more people", etc.), but slowly yet surely the party group got bigger. I even grabbed one of the T.A.s by the shoulders and steered him onto the dance floor, lmao ^_^. Even the professors joined us! I was particularly amused when my favorite prof joined in; he's rather conservative and a bit on the shy side, so I was surprised that he actually came and danced!
Shoot, what time is it? 11:40 am? I'd better get back to work now. Two more mid-terms this week. *sigh*
