New Directions

Well hello again! Yes, yes, I know it has been too long but I have returned! Who knew that having a Calculus and Organic Chemistry exam would drive one to blogging. Perhaps because blogging is a wonderful tool for procrastination? There are so many options for procrastination, even for blogging itself. But I digress.

You may notice some changes. You probably should have; they are just a teensie bit obvious. As I am officially a science major with a minor in anthropology, our title has been changed appropriately. Also, I felt like the previous background was a bit too...well, daisy-ish. I mean, there doesn't seem to be much of a springtime feel up in the cold midwest! Although in the past week, we've had some wonderful weather so my goal is to keep the background bright but a bit more sophisticated.

A new opportunity has come to my attention today, The Hub. It is similar to a self-sustaining blogosphere, but with a focus on academics and life at Notre Dame. There are posts about proper e-mail etiquette, student research, study abroad experiences and much more. I am in the process of writing up a post on how, as a freshman, I came to decide my major. Keep an eye out for that soon! And this time, I actually mean soon. I promise!

Also, as one of the new liturgical commissioners for my dorm, Pasquerilla West, the work has already begun! We've got plans to beautify our bush in front of the dorm - I promise it has liturgical significance! - as well as start holding Divine Mercy Chaplets every week.

What do you think a good dorm liturgical event would be?

With that, I'm off to go beat procrastination with a stick and try and get some homework done. In laymen's terms, I'm going to dinner.

A Well Timed Epiphany

Don't you love when it just suddenly dawns on you that hey this is super interesting, I think this would be the best and most fun thing for me to do for the rest of my life? That is the exact feeling I got as I left my friend's anthropology class last Friday.

That makes deciding a second major a lot easier, eh? It is rather nice to have that weight off my shoulders. All I have to do now is talk to the department and make it official!

Some more good news: my roommate situation for next year, which had been up in the air, has been brought down to earth and figured out. Once more, all we have to do is make it official! It was wonderful spending two hours in a Starbucks just chatting and learning more about each other. I have high hopes for the next two semesters!

Turning back to the major dilemma (haha), all that is left to do is to actually schedule out my classes with course numbers and the like. That way, I can actually see if a minor in Liturgical Music Ministry could possibly fit. Although, that depends on how music theory heavy that minor is. If the theory is too out of my league, I can see if science, technology and values would fit. Or just stick with the impossibly intimidating workload of a double major. We'll see.

In other news, midterms week is upon us here at Notre Dame. In a lucky coincidence, I only have one midterm, organic chemistry, the week before spring break. At least I think I only have one... I'll have to check on that. That means this Sunday has been filled with doing homework and being as productive as can be on everything except chemistry. Isn't it funny how that works out? When there is one thing that you really need to do, ie. study orgo, you are super productive in doing absolutely everything, and I mean everything, except it.

Case and point: Today, instead of doing organic chemistry, or calculus for that matter, I have successfully completed all of my online Spanish work for the week, have written up most of my lab report that is not due until Thursday, have filled out a form for Freshman retreat the weekend after break, and have written this blog post!

As I now realize how much of a procrastinator I am at heart, I am going to start my calculus homework and then whoops! It will be time for lunch! I'll get around to studying orgo....eventually.

The Benefits of Daily Mass

Never let anyone tell you daily mass isn't worth it. There is nothing like a quick half hour with God to get you back on your feet and motivated to do the ten pounds of Organic Chemistry homework awaiting you in your room. It is especially wonderful for me because I am usually playing guitar/frantically trying to find the page of the song during the times in Sunday mass that are set aside for personal prayer. In short, daily mass is absolutely wonderful and highly recommended!

With my renewal of motivation after mass, I'm ready to tackle my film, television and theater seminar homework but I don't think I'm quite ready for orgo. Toss in a couple more prayers for salvation and we'll see what happens.

I have returned to my debacle considering majors with a slightly more optimistic eye. I think I have a few majors that I would enjoy in addition to my SCPP major. (Forewarning: I use the term 'few' loosely.) To make things even more complicated, I had the brilliant idea that I could just stay with one major and minor in all of the fun things I enjoy. I am planning on making pro/con charts for my potential majors -- let's just say that it might take a wee bit of a long time.

Now that I have kept you waiting with baited breath for the revelation of this little freshman's options, let me clue you in. The potential majors are anthropology-- focusing on medical and biological anthropology--Spanish, psychology, and theology. Maybe medieval studies could find a home on that list as well as theater. As for supplementary majors, there is a Spanish supplementary major, a theology one, and a medieval studies one. Carefully peeking around the corners of the majors wait all of the options for minors: anthropology, education, schooling and society (ESS), liturgical music ministry, science, technology and values (STV), medieval studies and theology.

Lots of choices, I know. Hopefully I will be able to narrow these down before making a pro/con chart. Otherwise, I am going to kill a lot of trees!

(Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the writing of this post.)

New Masterpiece of Melodrama

At long last, I have decided to document the trials and tribulations of being a (or a soon to be) double major. As my way of introducing myself, why don't I explain how I got to this point.

I am currently a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. I know what you are thinking, oh look, the little freshie is starting a blog. You are exactly right my cutesy voiced friends! Anyways, I have always known that I wished to attend medical school; the only question has been how do I get there. Notre Dame seemed like a good place to start and the university has this bachelor of science degree called science preprofessional (SCPP for short) that is essentially a pre-med major--with extra jelly filling of course. Out of all the schools I looked at during senior year of high school, Notre Dame was the only one with a clearly defined pre-med major. This seemed like a pretty good sign to me!

Now, as a second semester freshman, I am not quite sure it will be enough. What else can I do to increase my chances of medical school acceptance while also taking advantage of being able to study whatever I wish for the next four years of my life? (3 and 1/2 years now, sheesh! Time surely flies.)

The end goal of acceptance into medical school is usually on the forefront of my mind, yet I do not wish to slide into the cliché of missing out on college because of preoccupation on graduate schooling. Don't get me wrong, I want to study what I enjoy in college, I just want to do that while securing admission to med school.

And so I have landed in my current predicament. I, Megan, have the utmost desire to gain the best possible chance of attending the medical school of my dreams (cough Vanderbilt cough) yet I still want to have fun in college.

Oh what a dilemma it is! Did I mention I tend towards being overdramatic? No? Well, I am affronted by your lack of sensitivity to my personality.

See what I did there?