who knew pencils were so exciting?

I survived my first day as an intern, everyone! I didn't make a fool of myself, get lost, or screw anything up. So basically, it was a success! I have my very own desk in a row of cubicles, my very own computer, and my very own legal pads. Oddly enough, I am missing a garbage can, but I plan to steal one soon.

Anyway, I opened my desk draw yesterday in hopes of finding a working pen, and holy plethora of office supplies! Pens and rubber bands and paper clips galore! It was at this moment of seeing a seemingly infinite supply of office goodies that I knew I was an intern.

I've already purchased a potential graduation dress and may have even started a small post-graduation job search. What can I say, I'm ready for this semester to be over already. I'm having a hard time adjusting to waking up early and I'm already bored with my classes. Oh well, I'll be regret saying that as soon as my homework starts piling up.

crackberries and stupid sisters

So much to catch up on!

1. I have a Blackberry now! Although I probably should call it my Crackberry. Seriously. After much drama and arguing with my family as to whether we wanted to renew our contract, we did and I ended up with a fancy new phone. I am so addicted. I swear, I'm checking it every five seconds. It's totally my new thing, and I'm very proud to be a part of the Blackberry club.

2. My 17-year-old sister is driving me insane. I remember what it was like to be 17. I wasn't very well behaved. Ask The Boyfriend - he was even worse than I was! But it kills me to hear her tell stories about being drunk or to tell me what she's done with her little boyfriend lately. Seriously, I don't want to know. I don't want to know not only because it bug me, but I also don't want to be responsible when she does something really stupid like drives drunk.

I thought things were finally out of my hands when she came home the other night with beer on her breath. We always have to say goodnight to mom when we come home late for this exact purpose. She tried to cover for herself though, and said it was just the smell of it - she wasn't drinking, it was other people. This didn't fly for long, however, as she got in an argument with my mom about it the very next night. She refused to talk to my mom and demanded to talk with my father.

My father is an understanding man. He doesn't tend to overreact and he remembers what it was like to be young and dumb. However, I don't think he realized that what he told her wasn't interpreted quite the right way. See, he told her he knew there wasn't much he could do to stop her. She should be safe, however, and let him know where she's staying.

That'd be fine if he was telling a 20 year old that. Someone in college, more mature, responsible. But we're talking about my stupid, stuck up, immature 17-year-old sister. She interprets this as, "My dad says I can drink." No good, Dad. Know your audience! I haven't found the right moment to tell him this, but I plan to call him out on it. Sure, he's right to say she shouldn't drink and drive, but this wasn't his best parenting moment in my opinion.

3. Remember that big Campaigns project I was telling you all about? We got the books printed! They look like fancy magazines, filled with work produced with my blood, sweat and tears - and damn, it feels good! We didn't win the competition, but that doesn't really matter to me. I'm happy that now I have something awesome and tangible to show potential employers.

Speaking of potential employers, the internship hunt isn't going so well. Please cross your fingers that I can find something for the spring or I am kinda screwed. So yeah. Cross them fingers, people!

(crackberry found here)

breaking blogging rules

I know this probably falls under the category of things you aren't supposed to blog about because it can come back to bite you, but I need to get this off my chest.

I have this professor who I absolutely can not stand. We're creating a campaign for a competition that has been organized by a group outside of the school. Sounds like a ton of work but a great learning experience, right? Well, sort of.

A ton of work? Oh, yes. Am I learning anything? No, unless you count learning how to be stressed out and angry all the time. She hasn't lectured us a single time, led us in the completely wrong direction for our project (which meant tons of backtracking and extra work), and misses class more than any of us! She's a hypocrite and never has anything nice to say.

Oh, and her misleading us almost meant a lot of money out of our own pockets. I'm a poor college kid, I need all the money I have. I don't need to be throwing it away for no good reason.

Yesterday's class was no better. I spent hours beforehand working with my classmates on a video. We come to class, and she bitches about everything. If she had come to class on Monday, she would have known all the work we've been doing. Then she starts to nit-pick our work to pieces.

"I'm just your tour guide. I'm not going to spoon-feed you." This is just code for "I will not be responsible for any of the major mistakes I've made. I will not lecture or teach you." How crap is that? What am I paying her to do?

When I get angry, I'm not the very best at hiding it. In class Wednesday, she was talking to another student and I was playing with the detailing on the bottom of my shirt. She instantly freaked out and yelled at me for texting. Quite offended, I said, "No, actually, I'm just playing with my shirt. Don't you think I know better, especially in a class of nine students?" She didn't like that.

Prior to this incident, I had been speaking up about my differing opinion about how we had created some of our ads. She wanted to cut something that I thought was quite important. Eventually, we came to a compromise, but not before she said, "Olivia, you can argue with me all day if you want, but this is how it's going to be!"

I'm paying for this education and dammit, I want it to be a good one.

She sent me a very short email yesterday asking to meet with me, no excuses. I guess this has happened with another student in the class, and he told me that she's going to pull me into her office and one by one, tell me every little thing she thinks I'm doing wrong.

I'm going to have to take some Zanax or something before the meeting because I'm worried that all the stuff I've said now will come out. I know better than to ruin my grade over behaving badly, but I just want to scream in her face and tell her that I think she's an awful professor.

Any tips for how to hold it together in a stressful and angering situation???

Tweet Me

1. For one of my classes this semester, I am participating in a GM Marketing Competition. As part of the PR team, I am working on some social media stuff to help promote the discount for college students to buy GM vehicles. Students and recent grads can get up to $5,000 off and it can be paired with other incentives. Cool, huh? So here's where you come in: please follow the GM college discount program on twitter @ twitter.com/GMcollege. :)

2. I really wanted to look cute today, but it is seriously cold and windy. And in an effort not to flash the entire campus, I've decided that a cute skirt is not the best option. So instead, I am going for comfy-cute: soft blue jeans, black tennis shoes, black long sleeve, and really soft teal and purple plaid scarf!

Well, gotta run to class now. More later!

do I really have to go?

Sadly, I have to return to the real world today. Summer fun, goodbye. Books and lectures and homework, hello. On the upside, I only have one class today so I get to ease back into things at least. I'm also considering dropping one class which would probably help. Oh, and all my classes this semester are in buildings I've never been in before, so I'm going to look really awesome today carrying around a map!

The Boyfriend brought me home a nice surpise yesterday: molasses cookies! Seriously though, I used to get molasses cookies all the time from Hy-Vee when I was living in Iowa. When I moved back here, I sadly discovered that none of our grocery stores carry them! So last time I was visiting friends in Iowa, I made sure to stock up. Imagine my surprise when the Boyfriend handed me a huge box of fresh-baked molasses cookies that he brought home from Costco. Yum!!!

Early this morning, I was rudely awoke by the shockingly loud sound of the lawn service right outside my window. At what time, you ask? 6AM. And let me tell you, I am not a morning person. I was thoroughly peeved by this. And to make things better, it scared the hell out of my kitties who dodged into the bedroom, causing the door to swing open and the bright sunlight of early morning to come rushing in. Grr....

Currently Dreading: the commute to campus and having to rush to work afterwards.

Currently Sipping On: a mini Naked juice; I feel so healthy when I drink them, and I'm hoping all the natural fruits and veggies will boost my mood.

Currently Feeling: in denial that the semester really is starting today, whether I want it to or not.

(photo of a 1950's UW-River Falls student found here)

genius or idiot?

Please don't tell the Boyfriend that I've been staring at the computer screen for an insanely long amount of time today. Hey, I did the dishes. That was productive. Seriously though, if I don't get a job soon, I'm going to become some sort of lunatic. No good.

While staring into the glowy abyss of my computer screen, I had an interesting thought. And since I had nothing better to occupy my time, I pursued this interesting thought. What thought, you ask? This thought was of quitting my advertising degree and getting a certificate in fashion from a local tech school chain. Hmmm...

What did I discover? I could be a fashion specialist after one very intense semester of classes. Whoa. Cool, huh? Well, the only campus that offers the fashion specialist degree is, naturally, the farthest from where I live. I would have to go to this campus four days a week and attend a fifth class at the closest campus once a week. Sure, the 45 minute drive four days a week would seriously blow, but there is a chance I could ride the bus most of the way. I am not sure of this, however, because our transit system confuses the hell out of me.

Oh, and don't let me forget the fact that I'd have to also take 2 online classes. Yes, that brings us to a total of 7 classes worth 19 credits. That's definitely a lot, but its a challenge that I can't help but consider. Surprisingly, this class schedule is almost more appealing than my advertising one, since that schedule has me taking classes all afternoon, not leaving much time for a job. And we all know I need a job.

Was this a stroke of genius or a moment of boredom-driven insanity? Eh, I'm not so sure. Although its terribly tempting, I can't get the thought out of my head that I've gone to school for quite some time and built up a devastating amount of debt... can I really let that all go to waste over a certificate that might not be worth much of anything in the real world?

(cute kitty found here)

the world continues to crap on me

At 1:00 today, I had a meeting on campus to make my major declaration official since it recently came to my attention that I only thought I was a Journalism & Mass Comm major. Surprise! Well anyway, I went down to campus to make things official, onyl to realize that not being an official major was the least of my worries. A fifteen minute meeting lasted well over an hour.

I am currently taking the wrong natural science course this summer. I've taken too many geography, so now I need something else. Who knew you could only take so many of one type of science? Not me, apparently. So I dropped it, but probably won't get my money back. Ugh.

I am a senior, but have not yet taken my english and math placement tests. Don't be too surprised; its because I've transferred a lot. But that means I need to take very long and very boring tests next week. I haven't taken a math class in 5 years, so I am not very hopeful of placing well in math. Gah!

For next semester, I am currently signed up for 18 credits which is more than I am interested in taking. I'm thinking I'm going to drop one so that I don't go crazy, but I have to wait and see how I do on my placement tests. Wish me luck! Oh, and there is one class that I definitely won't be dropping: "The Tree of Life" - heck yes, that's my new science class! Hey, at least I can laugh about my dramatic day.

(photo from here)