Archive for September 4, 2007

The third-year divide

By Shannon McDonald | Sept. 4, 2007 | The Temple News

Ah, college. Parties, procrastination and 2 a.m. bowls of Ramen noodles. A place where going to bed at 5 a.m. and waking for class three hours later makes perfect sense. Then there’s the second half of college.

Like most, I spent my first two years of college enduring the days of seemingly endless classes and making plans to do whatever unscholarly activities
I could find at night. After long days of crunching numbers, observing rocks and writing until my hand fell off, the best way to unwind usually involved pajamas and a TV. Throw in some friends and a smörgåsbord of cheap food and I was set.

After just a week into the first semester of my third year, the second half of college is proving to be very different than the first. The classes aren’t harder, but the workload has my schoolbag bursting at the seams. Literally.

The amount of money I spent on books is twice what I’ve spent in previous semesters. Most of this year will be spent looking for internships. Forget movie marathons in pajamas, the only downtime I get is the short break between my classes. Before the semester started I didn’t even consider the possibility of this year being any different from my past experience. If anything, I thought it could only get easier. Continue reading »