School Update

Okay, I just took a very easy marine bio test, but I also don't think I did well on it.
I totally blanked on more than 3 differences between r-selected and
k-selected species. *sigh* I was thinking size was a factor, because
k-selected are typically bigger, but I thought that was stupid. Of
course, that WAS a reason and I didn't write it down. Blasted. 10 point question and I got only
(at most) 6 points on it. I also, uhm, fibbed my way through what Net
Primary Production was. Hahaha. I probably got a 5 on that one (maybe more if he has pity on me since I did know what all the components in the equation meant (and the equation) even if I didn't exactly know what Net Primary Production exactly was). And...I
guessed on 2 T/F questions and 1 multiple choice question. If I got
those wrong, that's another 7 points!
Not to mention the possibility in getting other questions wrong. *sigh*
That's a low B and we only have 3 tests in this class! AHHHHHHHHHH

My stomach is in a ton of knots... I'm depressed...

I am doing better in 212, though. I've gotten 9's on the last couple of our assignments. So that means I'm pulling an A in the class at least. I'm not hostel (openly or otherwise) against him and I'm writing in a way that he wants, so I'm doing pretty well.

Water Law ain't bad, but we still haven't had too many assignments. I'm doing well, though. A at least.

Capstone is, well, capstone. There's not a whole lot to actually grade. It'll come down to how my proposal turns out and what Judy thinks of it. The rate I'm going, it could be a disaster, but hopefully it won't be. I'm feeling really behind in capstone even if I am keeping up with all the assignments. I guess I feel on-time to the class, but behind to Judy and the NOEP's standards. My capstone will be a working paper and we're getting more work for the National Report, so...I need to amp up my work ethic to my capstone. Not that I'm working on something else more than my capstone. It's more like I'm constantly tired so really sluggish in getting things done when there's not a due date that week. I do have to make a time line of when I want things done for the NOEP and Judy so we can keep me on track, but it's just intimidating! I like the NOEP a lot, but I feel stupid when everyone talks about their projects. Granted, I'm sure everyone kind of feels that way with any project you have no clue about, but still! Being the noob, simply put, isn't fun.

On top of this all, I'm basically screwed with the Academic Planning Committee this semester. Their meetings are at a time I have class.  It's either ditch class (with the APC knowing) or participate next semester. They've asked if I can participate next semester, which I hopefully can. I may ditch Water Law anyway...That class is SO boring and she has us write notes for some purpose I don't know. We don't have tests or quizzes in the class.

I've decided not to be a mentor this year for the aquarium. I just can't add onto my mental status as it is already. I could do it, but just the thought of HAVING to be at the aquarium every Sunday because I have a responsibility would be too much. I like the freedom in knowing I can skip the aquarium if I need to.

Other than that, life is going. I've yet to receive my packet of information from Scholastic for the JK Rowling thing in NY, but that should be arriving sometime this week. To say the least, I'm really wanting mid-October to be here  NOW.

Okay, I should be off.

Flight!

My mom and I booked our flight tonight! It was definitely on the pricey end, but the times are at least decent. We have our hotel, we have our flight...All I have to do is wait for the packet of paperwork to arrive, send it back, and wait for October the 18th to arrive.

It's a 3.5 weeks away and it feels SO far away, but I know the time is just going to ZOOM on by.

I have to figure out now my financials to see about Australia and Chicago. I'd like to go to Chicago for Terminus (Harry Potter conference in Chicago Aug 2008), but if I go to Australia and with NY now...My funds are pretty much wiped out. Oh well, I have time to still think about that.

I have to admit, I'm not exactly looking forward to flying again. LoL I've been in San Fran (x2), San Jose, Monterey, LAX, Colorado, Orlando, and Heathrow this summer. With going to NY, I'll add in Salt Lake City and JFK into the list. Not to mention Monterey again. Of all the airports, Monterey is my least worried one because it's small. All the others I have to worry about getting through security and everything (*shudders at the thought of LAX*). I've been on 3 airlines (United, American, Virgin) so far with NY being a 4th (Delta). I'm definitely getting a feel for planes, airports, and airlines...I obviously haven't recovered from my ordeal with going to the UK, but I have something fun to look forward to! I just need to keep that in mind.

With that, I'm off to sleep.

We have a hotel!

After spending a solid two days trying to find a hotel (a decent one at a decent price) I FINALLY found one. The place that I really wanted showed it was full on-line, but I e-mailed them and tried calling them. This morning they e-mailed me back saying they had one room left! So I got it! It's about a half a block away from Carnegie Hall and a block away from Central Park (it's right across from the Ritz-Carlton, in fact). It's called the Park Savoy.

I'm so happy. LoL I was seriously getting worried for a while because all the "cheaper" hotels were booked. The next price range for a decent hotel near Carnegie Hall was $366 a night or going away out to Times Square or Manhattan and paying about $200 a night still.

Now to just book our flights!

I'm going to NYC!!

So....last month Scholastic had a JK Rowling Open Book Tour Sweepstakes. JK Rowling is coming to the US to do a book reading, Q&A, and book signing for schools in Los Angeles, New Oreleans, and New York. Well, in addition to those, she's doing a book reading, signing, Q&A session for anyone older than 7 and resident of the US! The event would be at Carnegie Hall in NYC on Friday, October 19th at 7pm. There would be 1,000 grand prize winners and the prize was 2 tickets to see her read, the Q&A, and get a book signed. Accommodations and flights would have to be taken care of by the winner. So, of course, I HAD to enter into it even though I'm still "broke" from the UK and Florida.

Last week they were contacting winners and a friend of mine got picked and I was getting more depressed as the days go on thinking I didn't win. So this week (after Monday) I gave up hope in winning. It just wasn't meant to be and there would be other times.

Well...I was sitting in class at about 12:20pm on Wednesday and my phone rings. I'm staring
at it on the desk flashing a "Call 1." I knew it had to be an unknown
number. I've been reading the comments on the news post about the
winners being contacted on TLC's main page so I know from that (and my friend's account) their numbers don't show up. So it's the BEGINNING of
class and this happens. So I'm sitting there thinking, "could that be
them? I can't remember which number I gave them. It could be Chris
though, his number is blocked." So it stops ringing and a
voice mail was left. So it's making even MORE paranoid. LoL I even was
trying to figure out what time Chris would have had to start work to
call me at that specific time. I figured out there was not much chance
it was him, but it STILL could have been him. I was trying to not get
my hopes up. So we were finishing a movie and I'm sitting there trying to
pay attention and not freak out. FINALLY at 1pm she says we can take a
5 minute break (we do every class) so I get up (we ALL have to get up
and move around) and I check my voice mail. It starts off, "Hi, this
message is for Bethany Taylor..." I KNEW right then I won. LoL Then it
goes onto "This is Vicky from Scholastics and I'm actually calling to
congratulate you..." I basically freaked out. I'm standing next to my
friends saying, "oh my gosh! I can't believe it! I won!" They're looking at me
funny. I finally tell them when the message ended. They just gave me
one of those "oh, that's nice" looks.
I went out of the room to call my mom. I'm trying to hold it all in and
I called her and she said I sounded funny like I was distressed. So she
was worried about what could have happened! Then I told her and she's
all "really? You won?" It was funny, but I was so excited! So I went
back and had to sit through 45 more minutes of class knowing this
information! I tried calling Vicky after class, but there was no
answer. I left the worst voice mail ever. I'm all "Hi Vicky, this is
Bethany Taylor. I'm just calling your...I mean, returning your call. I
would absolutely love to accept the tickets, prize, [I said something I
don't remember], whatever they are. You can call me back at..." I gave
her my number twice (hope I said it right, I don't even remember saying
the numbers) and hung up.

Now to wait for the return call because I have some papers to fill out and send back to them! So, yes, I and my mother are going to NYC to see JK Rowling!!!! Am I excited? Oh yeah!

Entering a whole new world...

So...I've been slowly figuring out by way of researching for my capstone that I'm entering a whole area no one has really been in. So my capstone paper will eventually (definitely looks that way) will end up being published somewhere, sometime. How is it the state of California has had NO one research biotoxins and how it affects the economy?! There are hypotheticals and there's extrapolating from other states, but I can't find any papers on specifically California or even government documents! So I'm going to have to end up doing MORE research and work for my capstone than I thought. I'll have to extrapolate from other studies and compare it to California and look at domoic acid blooms, fishery closures, beach closures, and fishery and beach data when they're open. Lovely...

In some ways it's kind of interesting going and doing something no one has really done before, but it's also terrifying for an undergraduate capstone paper! I had a PhD scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (a premier institute) tell me that if I unearth any information or write a paper that estimates economic costs from harmful algal blooms (HABs) for California to pass it on to him. This guy has been writing papers on harmful algal blooms HABs and economy impacts for years (at least 2000). So I'm just a bit floored and even more stressed now. Lol

On another note...it seems wrong that kids (5 and 3) have more energy than a 21-year-old. I'm reading stories to my niece and nephew and getting them ready for bed and all I can think about is how much I want to go to bed and how wired they are. LoL I do think if I can have any super power it'd be to sap excess energy from little kids and/or the ability for people to sleep for you. I think both those would be very useful. Who cares about being invisible or being able to fly, I want something more practical. :P

School! My first of three marine biology tests is next Tuesday. AHHHHHH! I have a paper/presentation due next week in Water Law too. I have to go to the water district's office and pick up a brochure and call them to interview someone. *rolls eyes* My first formal paper is due Thursday for food ethics. It's definitely not my best paper I've written. It's hard to fit everything I want to say in 5 pages double-spaced. Also harder in trying to cover enough points with such little information and on a topic that's hard to grasp. It just makes for a not-so-great paper. At least that's what my draft for tomorrow is like. LoL The GRE is quickly approaching; okay, it's in 47 days. It seems really close, though, and finding time/energy to study is hard.

As for the aquarium, I have to make a decision tomorrow whether I can commit to being a mentor or not. It's basically a mandatory meeting 3 times in a year (fall-summer) and arriving early/staying late on shift on Sundays. I think I can do that, but do I want to add another level of commitment onto myself? Granted, it's not adding that much more since I'm already going on Sundays, but it's all psychological!

Anyway, I should go to sleep. Well, more like read some marine biology and my lit review paper for it. Test next week with 200 pages of the book to read and pages of notes to review. AHHHHH

My life just exploded...

I'm into my 3rd week of school and everything just hit me suddenly. I'm looking at my schedule trying to figure out when I can have a realistic amount of time to study for the GRE and catch up on my marine biology reading (it's probably close to 150 pages now...) and I just can't find it!

I have a marine biology test in 2 weeks, water law presentation & paper on the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District in 2 weeks (I have to interview people and get actual brochures from them), I have papers due every week in 212 (Food Ethics) with some being larger than others, capstone proposal steps to take care of each week, and literature review each week in marine biology.

TIME IS GOING TO FAST! I need it to slow down so I can actually do everything on my list! I'm, in many ways, glad I'm at MBARI for my capstone. LoL It's basically time I can spend doing my capstone research and such. Else, I honestly have no clue when I'd find time to do some things. It also means Judy is around so I can actually go and talk to her about issues and whatnot. It just adds another layer of complication on my already complicated life.

How is it that I don't have all *that* much to do, but at the same time I feel overwhelmed? I'm having troubles going to sleep at night with everything that goes through my head in things I have to complete. I have to take days off for various things and it's just getting nuts. In fact, I should be sleeping now, but I'm updating my blog because everything just hit me. I am trying to be good about homework to have at least half of it completed before the night before it's due. So that's helping the stress level at least, but I just keep thinking I haven't gotten to studying for the GRE (procrastination on the leftover half of my homework - ya know?) and I have these things I need to study for or work on over long periods of time.

There are just too many things to do and not enough hours to complete them in a day.

I am just going to go to bed because I'm getting tired beyond tired and can't think very well anymore. I am going to check out my bike and see what condition it's in and try to go biking around the neighborhood some. See if that helps me or not. Now, to just get the energy and will to do that...

It's the simple things in life...

I'm officially an employee of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) now! I filled out all the paperwork, got my key card, e-mail, blah, blah, blah all today. :) My title is "research assistant."

I'm most excited about my key card. LoL My e-mail at MBARI is pretty cool too since it's only my first name. I'm apparently the only Bethany at MBARI. :P I also got put onto their staff list so I got my own staff page. Not shabby for basically being paid to do my capstone!

My capstone is still in the early research stages. It'll be focused on the impacts domoic acid (DA) has on select fishing industries, beach attendances, and tourism.

On an unrelated note, I paid my $140 test fee to take the GRE test on Saturday, November the 3rd at 12:30pm in San Jose. It's real now! Taking the test that is. That means, on top of everything else (school, Borders, Aquarium, MBARI, Leaky), I now have to study for the GRE. Yay for me.

I'm an overachiever...

Hello, my name is Bethany. *crowd says "Hi Bethany"* I admit I am an overachiever.

So I admit it. I am an overachiever. I got an 8/10 on my Thought Piece
for 212 (first assignment) and a 8/10 on my article review for marine bio (first assignment) and I
looked at both scores and thought "That's a B! I want an A. Why did I get a B? I want an A." To top it
off, a guy next to me in 212 said he just wants to pass the class and
the 8/10 was good for him and I ALMOST said, "I just want to pass the
class with an A. If I get a B, it'll throw my GPA off" and thought that
was a bit, well, over the top and didn't say it. LoL

My marine bio assignment he critiqued my writing, which is fine. Part of the assignment is based on your writing. It's a critique of an article and the way I wrote it didn't necessarily achieve the goal. My 212 class is an ETHICS class. Sure, writing is important, but should a professor spend MOST of his time critiquing our writing and not our thoughts? I just feel like he's emphasizing our writing more than he is our thought process and ethics is supposed to make you think. It's not a writing class. As long as I'm writing in a way that my thought process is being conveyed on INFORMAL pieces, who cares if my sentence could be more concise? According to the syllabus (which isn't his, but he's trying to make his and not following) the thought pieces are supposed to get us thinking and we shouldn't be as worried about our grammatical writing. Obviously we need to write to a standard, but he's grading on a much higher standard than the syllabus conveyed.

Lesson to self: Write in short, concise sentences. Each sentence MUST have a point to it. If my thought process is faulty, who cares? I have written in a short, concise manner!

I miss 384s with Dan. Dan was great. He structured the class almost the same way 212 is supposed to be structured, yet he actually critiqued your thought process. He'd write all over your paper to give you things to think about what you said. He didn't go through and correct my grammar and write one vague comment saying "your paper shows considerable thought and weight" and then go on to give me pointless information on how I can clarify by rereading my paper to give more clarity (that made no sense to me).

Anyway, I'm TRYING to not have a bad attitude about the class because it'll affect my work and the guy isn't bad. He was thrown into the class and is trying his best, but he's not handling it well at all. I'm hoping it'll get better, but I kind of doubt it.

With that, I must be off. I should work on some homework, go to bed early tonight, and I need to do this capstone assignment now before I forget.

Oh, did I mention someone from MBARI e-mailed me and asked me what I wanted my e-mail address at MBARI to be? I can have my first name only or first name initial and last name. Now which one do I want...

GRE

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

I haven't registered yet, but I'm planning to take my first stab at the GRE on Saturday, October 27th. AHHHHH. I need to start seriously studying. Right. I'll get straight on that! *7 hours later* Right...I'll get straight on that...! Yeah, okay, so I'm not looking forward to the studying, but I need to! I need a good score, though I can take it once a month and up to 5 times in 12 months. Granted, the more times you take it, the worse it could look. So I need to pace myself and study hard for this one. On top of that, the test is ridiculously expensive - $140. It's not like I can afford to take the test a lot of times.

Next Monday I start at MBARI. That should be exciting and add another layer of complication to my life. I'm already sleep deprived and procrastinating on homework. Yay me. :)

The Aquarium has a new White Shark if ya didn't know. It's a male, young-of-the-year at 4'9"! I haven't seen it yet. Yesterday was insane at the aquarium and I never made it to that side of the aquarium in general.

With that, I'm off. I need to sleep since I have class at 10 am and I don't get to come home till 5 pm. :( I have homework to do tomorrow. I've been avoiding reading this article on mesoscale iron enrichments in the ocean somewhere (it's just a lot of technical words in it and those just don't make for quick reading). I also have to read chapters 1 and 2 of the Water Law book and some chapters/pages in the marine bio book. Not to mention I still need to annotate my Domoic Acid articles before Monday. And I have a journal assignment due on Thursday for 212 and that article I have to read for marine bio I have to write-up a 1 page review of it. I could start working on assignment 2 for water law, which is due next week, but that's getting ahead of myself. :P

Laters