12.6.09 Final Reflection

Well the end of the semester is near, and for blogs the end is here. Hard to believe. These blogs have been a huge part of my first semester here. At first, I really hated them. They were a seemingly unimportant pain, a distraction to my Sunday and Wednesday nights (since I almost always waited last minute). However, my opinions have changed. As the semester progressed I really began to take our biweekly blogs more seriously, and have enjoyed them more as a result. Usually, I would blog as a way to complain about things in my life or in the world. That's no longer the case. Through blogs we have a way to express more than what we dislike. In reflections and our question assignments we can talk about ideas, dreams, the future, the past. I enjoy them, despite taking months. Nonetheless, I am happy. I realize I wasn't wasting my time. My ability to write informally has drastically improved, a style of writing that until now I was never able to employ in my schoolwork.

Much has changed in my life as I reflect on this first collegiate semester. I came into school with a clear idea of my future: major and graduate with a degree in International Relations, get my Master's somewhere and maybe my PhD, and land a great career like that. Now I have no idea, but I'm not too concerned. We're in college to explore our options, to get to know ourselves better. I've got time. I picked the majority of my second semester courses in areas that interest me and am looking forward to all of them. My work ethic, too, has changed. I've limited my procrastinating, a great step forward from earlier on in the semester and I like it that way and plan to keep it up. Grades have improved and so has my sleep schedule.

So I say goodbye, my bittersweet blog friend. We've had some interesting times together, typically late at night and weary-eyed, though no longer. I'm sure we'll be reunited, though I know not when. Until then, keep frustrating students. It will really pay off, believe it or not. It has for me.