that's IT?

138 pages were turned in by me this semester in essay format.
I feel like all I did this semester is write. If you read this blog like once a month (lulz aka whenever I post), it looks like all I do is write.
But really, what I did all semester is reading. So. Much. Reading. Novels in my Russian class. Novels in my Fem Lit class. Short stories in my short story class. Novels in my 490 class. Essays in all my classes. Reference books/academic journals for all the research papers. Statistics websites for my Sociology class.

And you know what, now that everything is officially over and the grades are posted and all I have is one online class, one study abroad, and one real semester left, this is what I have to say:
Winter 2013 was the Fat Camp of semesters. My brain has never been so stretched. My body has never gone through that little sleep. And it was seriously amazing, how I was learning about so many things that I either wanted to know or needed to know or wasn't expecting to know. And I loved my job! Being a History TA was literally the best. It has changed the plans I am making for the future. And this semester really shaped the way I look at my future. I am going to graduate school, real life! I am going to be spending a lot of time researching, and I know where to look. Kind of.
On a surprising other plane of life, I kind of had one. For the first time in college, I "hung out" with other people like once a week. Sophomore Madi would not have believed that this could ever happen. I have friends in my ward, I have inside jokes... Yeah. Weird. Picnic Club status is probz never going to be attained in the post-high school world, but I made friends this semester. On top of everything else.
The bad news is that this was not a healthy semester. Next to no sleep, lots of snacks, and no time to work out is no bueno. I mean, I do have to hike a freaking veritable mountain to get to campus. But if I'm really hiking fast, it can take me ten minutes to get from my apartment to the fringe buildings of campus. So there and back is 20 minutes. Not a lot.

So, this summer I have an online class to finish in four weeks that will be spent in Provo, and a five-week, six-credit excursion in a branch of heaven. AKA Glasgow. I'm going to try to eat better and sleep better (starting tomorrow I guess... blogging past 1 AM is going to have to stop) and go on walks (because the desire to be healthy is not going to quell a longstanding hatred of running) and maybe do some sit ups (lolololololol maybe). I'm going to spend just a pinch of time developing my artistic endeavors by trying to journal/blog more. And I'm going to start GRE-studying and internship- and grad-school-applying. And then this fall I'll take classes, and I'm TAing again, and I'm going to do a lot for my European Studies Student Association and hopefully do one of those bilingual service things where you read to kids in English (because I need to be more useful to my fellow man). And it's just going to be cracker jack.

Also, I am getting my hair cut today because I mean business. And because of the picture of Michelle Dockery with shorty hair that I'm obsessed with... justwanttoattractaMrCrawleyitus.