Christmas break is officially over. Although it seemed like a bummer in high school to come back to school, I am actually kind of excited to be back at Furman. No, I am not looking forward to doing school work again; however, I am looking forward to all Furman has to offer outside of the classroom. Friends, intramurals, and various organizations are always a plus at Furman.

Starting next week, I will be involved in the Shucker Leadership program. Unlike my high school community service clubs, this organization seems highly organized. I have constantly received e mails from the club during Fall semester despite being in the Spring Semester sector. Luckily, there is definitely no excuse from missing a mandatory meeting.

Classes so far this semester are decent. It’s funny, I can actually imitate every teacher that has taught me last semester and I am catching on to this semester’s professors as well. Each professor acts differently and has a unique set of characteristics. It gets pretty entertaining sometimes and definitely keeps me awake in class. Until next time, chao.

Ok so I am finally finished with my exams. Studying for the exams was definitely challenging; however, Furman gives students “study days” before the exams during which there are no classes. As a result, you can devote your day to studying at your own pace. Furthermore, Einstein’s and the Pala Den are always open during the exams, so you can always just take a short stroll to one of them and purchase a delicious ice cream or shake to cool you off. As a freshman, you get around 180 Pala Points, with each point equaling a dollar. Therefore, you have a generous number of choices of where to relax between your exam study times.

Well winter break is finally here. I got out a few days earlier since my exams fell on the first three days of the examination period. Some students have to stay on campus until December 18; however, I got out on the 14^th. The closing procedures for the dorm rooms are pretty straightforward. Additionally, the students do not have to move all of their stuff out during winter break. This saves the trouble of moving all of the big objects such as televisions and furniture. Furthermore, the custodial staff cleans your dorm during the break so that you could have a “clean start” when you come back.

Luckily, I do not live that far away from Furman so I had a short drive home. For those students living a good distance away, Furman provides a bus shuttle that will take you to the airport. That way, you save money by not having to take the rather expensive taxi. Additionally, if you do not want to take the bus, you can always ask someone on the hall to drop you off at the airport since it is only about twenty minutes away. Well, I’m going to get started on my break. Merry Christmas!

So finally it is about time to go home for the Thanksgiving holidays. One pretty cool thing about Furman is that the Dining Hall often prepares different “theme dinners” during special occasions. For example, this past Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving meal. Some of the entrees included green bean casserole, tossed salad, rolls, cornbread, ham, and turkey. Some other “themed dinners” that I have witnessed were New Orleans, Mexican, and Family Weekend “themed dinners”. Although the food is always well prepared in the Dining Hall, it is especially tasty on the themed days.

Anyway, getting back to the Thanksgiving holiday, it is finally nice to get a break from school work. Exams are coming up soon after the Thanksgiving break; but, the Christmas break is coming up also. To me, that is one of the best things about college: A full month off for Christmas break.

To tell you the truth, time has been flying by for me this semester. The school days in high school took forever, partially because we had eight hour days compared to two hours a day at Furman. Nevertheless, time somehow seems to speed up when you are in college. With time flying by so fast, you are forced to make some pretty crucial decisions early on in your college career. For example, if you wish to double major, like I do, planning your courses for the next four years must be a priority since there are plenty of classes that you have to take and not many slots to waste. Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a pretty unique Furman experience this weekend. I am a big fan of football, as anyone reading my journals could already tell. Therefore, I think of had the idea of playing some of my friends from Pickens in tackle football. To do this, I gathered a team of some Furman friends and we set out to Pickens to play. Living close to home and making some new friends definitely has its advantages.

To make things better, it rained all Friday night as we were playing. The ball was super slippery and I would say there was an interception or a fumble almost every other play. At first, we were getting dominated by the Pickens team. We were getting shut out and the other team had scored four touchdowns; however, we started making a beast of a comeback and tied up the ball game in the end. The final score was five touchdowns to five touchdowns.

After being beat, we bought some pizza and just hung out for a while in the hall discussing the game. I would say the guys on the hall definitely got to know each other better by playing this game. Not only did it require teamwork, but also a lot of communication in order to keep the plays running smoothly. There will be a re-match in about two weeks, so come rage.

Ok, so heading out of Midterms is a big relief. I guess Midterms were what I expected them to be like in college in some cases and not in others. For my sociology class, we had a multiple choice exam, which was a drag to study for since it covered 3 book chapters plus lessons covered in class; however, my Freshman Year Seminar had a midterm that consisted of several take-home essays. Although these essays were definitely a lot of work, the ability to work on it outside the classroom with the help of notes lying right in front of me definitely lowered the stress levels.

So how do you prepare for these more challenging cumulative multiple choice/fill in the blank exams? Well, to start off I would recommend reading the assigned readings. The next thing I did was take notes on the readings. Last, I studied my class notes and my class readings. Missing classes definitely reduces your ability to do well on these exams, as each and every lecture is equally important. Although I did all of this extensive studying for my sociology course, in addition to not missing a single class in there, I still made a B on the exam. So, Furman is definitely a challenging institution; however, these high standards prepare you for the future.

Well, after enjoying a weekend off from everything after the Midterms, I realized that Thanksgiving break is in less than 3 weeks. Plus, after Thanksgiving break, we only have like a week and a half left of school left in the semester. Wow, exams heading my way again. Great. So anyway, I better go enjoy the little free time I have until these exams come again.

P.S. To add to the misery, the Cowboys and Giants had to play each other today. Dread