Thoughts on Winter Quarter 2010

Now that I have had some time to gather my thoughts and feelings on winter quarter, I can finally blog about it.

At a time when I thought things were getting slow and monotonous, winter quarter hits me a full list of surprises.

The quarter started off with me winning the marketing competition. This itself was quite a surprise, especially since I was not taking the competition too seriously, though I did put a lot of work into it. My friends assured me that I was going to win, but I always second guessed myself which is good, because you can never be too humble. The suspense only intensified when I met with the co-president of UIS, Mike T. and was told that I had basically won, but that they were still reviewing late entries (a reoccurring theme). Accepting the invitation to join UIS at that point in time, will be looked at as a pivotal moment in my college years.

Getting with UIS really flipped my world upside down, to put it in a cliche way. I have met so many amazing people, who share a common interest and are passionate about what they do. Not to mention that I actually was able to do marketing that actually worked. UIS has brought me numerous networking opportunities which has sort of settled my fears of speaking with strangers. Most importantly though, I have found a family at UIS and hopefully this time it will last.

When you actually work for a full quarter, it becomes a whole lot less appealing. The more work you do, the less exciting it gets. Also when you get blamed for something that is not your fault, it really really sucks, not that I did not know that already but when it happens in a professional setting it sucks even more. The upside to all of this, is that I have come to know my coworkers a great deal more and through them I have gotten a more mature view of life. When I hear about them talking about buying a new house or a washer and dryer, it really puts my life in perspective. Around the office I am constantly reminded that I am still very young and have a whole life ahead of me. Work has shown me how insulated student life is from the real world. I am thankful for my coworkers for reminding me that there is still a world outside of school and that I will be partaking in it soon.

Grades this quarter were disappointing to say the least. I dropped all of my economics classes which led to a pretty easy quarter and damn easy finals weak. Despite this however, I only end up with a 3.85 because I got an A- in a class that I was sure I had a 100% in. What makes it more frustrating is that the professor loved me and loved my writing, so how the hell did I get an A-? Maybe I should not have left early on the last day of class...

My friend situation has changed tremendously over winter quarter. Since UIS happened, I have found myself replacing friends. This was especially true after my roommates betrayed me ith the whole Ashley incident. In short, I gained a lot of new friends and lost a good old one and perhaps most tragically relationships with close friends took a turn for the worse. Is this all equal? Only time will tell.

This quarter marks the beginning of what may be the most pivotal moment in my college life. Getting accepted into the study abroad program for Shanghai was exciting, to put it mildly. As the quarter was ending, leaving San Diego was the only thing I could think about. I was prepared to just drop everything and leave for Shanghai without a second thought back when I was accepted. Though I am not so sure now. A year suddenly seems like an awful long time. One thing is for certain though, the end of winter quarter means I am just 6 months away from leaving.

- muffinman