To Contest or not to Contest?

The wait...the tension...then they come...GRADES!

4 A's, 1 B and the dreaded 1 F.

So this means I have mastered 5 out of 6 classes, and have not mastered 1. Is that realistic? Come on, now. I struggled for the entire semester trying to pass. I asked for help on several different occassions and was never given any. Should I or should I not contest the grade? Please help!! I need some advise.

The "Real World"

School is out for the summer!!
Now the question is what to do over the summer. There is so much to do here that I do not know where to start. I am cutting back on my hours from work hoping to enjoy my last free summer before the "real world." This leads me to my next question. What is the "real world?"
A lot of people I know have said to not wish away college. They said that after college all there is is work. My question to them is what about work now? As college students we have to work to pay for college, our cars, gas, car insurance and much more. Many college students have at least one part time job (Part time being anything under 40 hours a week) as well as taking 18 credit hours at school. Colleges suggest two hours of study per credit hour a week. So lets add this up. 18 x 2 = 36 + 40 = 76. Before sleep we are at 76 hours a week. That leaves us with 92 hous left in a week. If you factor in driving time, we will use mine for this, which is 30 minutes each way to school. 76 + 7 = 83. The amount of sleep needed for a person to function does vary, but let's use the recommended 8 hours a night. 8 x 7 days = 56 hours. That now puts us at 139 used hours a week. So the amount of time left to spend relaxing and being with friends and family is 29 hours. Feel free to add in time spent at places where you would volunteer or where you go to church as well as time spent eating and showering. In the end there is very little time left.

Now let's look at after college life. (Okay, I am still in college so I cannot give a 100% accurate analysis of time but I will try). If we keep everything the same but take out the class and study hours we are left with 103 hours of time spent doing something. So now we have 65 hours to volunteer, go to church, eat and shower. Looks like a little bit more free time.

I can see why people wish to be out of college and be in the "real world." If someone can finish college I think the "real world," time wise, will be easier. Granted in the "real world" you have to pay your own way.

Finals Week

One of, if not the number one, most dreaded week of the year. FINALS!! :(
The one good thing that comes from this week is knowing that at 10:00 A.M. of Friday, I am out of school until August. But until Friday, the week is full of cramming for finals, all nighters to finish papers and the entire stock of Red Bull, Mountain Dew and any other caffinated beverage college students can get their hands on.

The one question that every college student would love to have the answer to (or at least I would) is: how can we avoid these? Well there are a few different ways.

1) Wake-up in the morning.
I know, you're in college. You want to sleep until 2:00P.M. But get your lazy but out of bed before 8:00 A.M. for once. If you get up in the morning, you will have more time to study. This doesn't mean that you should still stay up until 4:00 A.M. to work on that paper.
2) Get good sleep.
I am guilty of not doing this as well. There is something about working online at midnight that for some reason draws me to it.
Go to bed at a decent hour and get your rest. You will appreciate it on Saturday.
3) Don't skip meals
You need your energy, and four Red Bulls does not equal a meal. Sorry. Don't let your diet go. You need nutrition to get your homework completed.

If these don't work, there is always this solution:
** Find out how much it would cost to pay off your professors.
This is highly unlikely seeing how they usually want a large chunk of money. And seeing how we are college students we don't have any!!

Good luck on your finals!!

"Me time"

Last night, I took my first spin class. It has been so long since I took time for myself. Usually, the time for myself is the cat nap I slip in between school and work. It was so refreshing to sweat and feel my legs burning. (I know that sounds gross, but it's true.) It is the end of the semester and I am spending so much time preparing for my finals, which I should be doing right now, I needed that reminder that I need a break for myself in between the choaotic life I run.
If you have been lacking in "me time," take a half hour to an hour out and do something for you. Whether it be exercise or a message, take the time for you.

The week

School
The last week of classes is finally here. It is a bitter-sweet occasion. I am finally getting to know and understand some of my professors. The relationship that has been building all semester finally has a foundation. The two professors I have come to like, I wil most likely never have again. They teach the lower level communication classes.
There is that one professor that I have been ready to get out of his class since midterms. One more class period and a test with him and then never again will I have to be in class with him.

It has been a busy week trying to finish up final projects. Sunday I will probably lock myself in my room all afternoon and finish the rest of my assignments.

Work
Work is work. It comes; it goes. It's up; it's down. That's life. Not much more I can do about it than let it work its course.

Summer

The summer is approaching fast. As of right now it looks like I will have two internships, one with Vertis Communications and one with Elsevier Press. But I am most excited about volunteering for the AMLA (alliance for a media literate america) Conference here in St. Louis. I do not have much information on what all I will get to do, but I am excited. If you are curious at all you can visit them online at amlainfo.com.

The Future of Media

I am not trying to be the feminist that want equal everything for men and women; I just want to see media's effects on girls be more of a positive one.
In two of my classes we are talking about different aspects of media and how they affect the public. One class particularly,we have talked about different representation of genders and races. Women are shown to represent only 7% of the population when in reality we represent 52%.

The other my professor was talking about how we are the future of media. This was after a discussion of how what is seen in advertising can be harming to a young girls mind and perception. She said that we can change media. But someone brought up how it has been the same way for so long that can we really change it without being rejected by our peers. It was at this point I thought, "I am going to change media no matter what the criticism from those around me is."

The next day after this goal I set for myself, I was sitting in my Script Writing class reading scripts from my classmates. It was then that it occurred to me that we were not doing what we wanted to to change media. The majority of the casts were male dominated. There was only one that was dominated by a female. The strange thing is that the class has more females in it than males. I was furious when I realized this because I was one who fell into the rut of media.

So this is the question, do we, as the future of media, really want to see a change or have we seen so much of what media is that we are too ingrained to change what it is?

Disclaimer: I am not trying to be the feminist that want equal everything for men and women; I just want to see media's effects on girls be more of a positive one.