Top 5 Tools to Stay Organized in School

Many of my classmates discovered that Part One of our midterm is this Monday. I know this makes me sound evil but I actually asked the professor to clarify the date because no one believed that the test was next week. My prof thought I wasn't paying attention but we know the real story. Anyway, in the midst of the maelstrom I was calm because I was prepared (not that I could take the exam today) and the girl next to me noticed. "You are so organized," she told me. This is my favorite compliment, possibly ever, and I'm wearing new pants. When it comes to school, I bust my hump to stay organized. This is the only way to stay afloat in challenging courses and schedules. I think this is truly one of the best parts of being a "mature student" in college; I know how to stay organized and time management is less of an issue. I say less because sometimes I blow stuff off and watch "Fringe" with James instead, like every other college kid.

So, today I thought I'd write about my Top 5 Tools to Stay Organized in School. Beyond the obvious things like keep a routine, plan your outfits, etc. There isn't an hierarchical aspect to the following, either.

01. Google Calendars will Save Your Life

I use Google Calendars for all kinds of things and share them with James. These calendars can be viewed and edited from our phones at a whim and reminders can be set to remind James to pick me up from work, etc. What isn't on here is James' work schedule because various clubs and what not are still settling in.  

For school I create a calendar for each class and spend "Syllabus Days" (the first day of class where nothing happens but syllabus review and role call) in the library between classes typing in every assignment and material covered. Looking at an individual syllabus and then flipping to another is for the birds! Please do not get me wrong; I love a hand-written calendar, too. For years I lived by my Moleskine like everyone else. But when there is a shift in the class-time paradigm the rest of the semester is off and it hurts my soul.

02. Color-Coordinate Those Classes

I cannot state how much this helps me. The colors in the calendar above are by no means random. I selected an ink color for each class for notes, flashcards, and calendar use. In a program like mine, especially, when similar information is often used in various courses, it's helpful to distinguish what I learned for which class. An example is that for SPPA 101 I may not need to know that /θ/ is an interdental, voiceless, fricative but I do need to know that for SPPA 215. So, if I have a card written in blue for 101 and purple for 215 I'm more likely to remember which requires more detail.  

03.  7-Subject Expanding File Folder

Every class, it seems these days, is run with PowerPoint lectures. This has it benefits in that I don't have to anxiously scribble everything down in hopes I won't miss any information and not really pay attention. Nor do I have to recopy said scribbles so they are legible. But the downside is that because I don't write it twice I don't always feel like I know it as well. Can you tell I am a (Multimodal) Visual-Verbal Learner? The other piece is that I have heck of a lot of paper within a few weeks. A regular folder only gives you so much storage and you need one for every class which runs the risk of one being left behind by accident. Enter the Expanding File Folder. This guy holds all of my classes at once so I can work on an assignment at any time even if I don't have x-class that day. I opted for the clear for two reasons. One being aesthetic, and liking the clean look; two is that I can see a printout of calendar through the front. Since there are two extra sections I can devote the back one to keeping a slim 2-subject spiral notebook so I can still take extra notes/write to-do lists, and so forth. Heck, I could just carry this guy around and I'd be set. I'm even thinking of naming him ("Gary" for some reason) because he's so reliable!

Gary, like myself, isn't very photogenic so this will have to do :D

04. A Bag with Plenty of Room, Like a Bag of Holding

Over the summer I got this on sale and it has been wonderful ever since. I like it so much I try to use it as a regular purse. Which, since its rather large, is not the best plan. 

The bag came from Think Geek which a great company; I've been buying stuff from them for years. I get emails from them and they often have sales or coupon codes so I saved something like $20 when I got it. I opted for the backpack version because it's 2 in 1: the messenger version is only 1. I can take the cross strap off if I want to and just use the back pack straps (very good with new textbooks). It's like an Alton Brown bag.  With a D&D reference. I mean, need I say more? 

Bonus points to a phone wallet, which forces me to carry less crap everyday.  

05. Grid-It Organizer
Now it's going to look like I'm sponsored by TG but I'm not, I promise. They now sell the bag and a Grid-It but I don't know if it is this size (the 5.125x10.25") since I purchased them months apart.  

• Multicolor pens, mechanical pencils, highlighter, and fine-point sharpie in the back zipper.
• 4GB Flash Drive & Argyle Case: I admittedly use this rarely because of Cloud tech but I keep it on me just in case
• iPhone cord (repaired with hacking putty)
• Star Trek pillcase with Tums and Iburpofren: I found this on Etsy some time ago and I love it so much. Here is a link to the shop, she makes all kinds of awesome pillboxes.
• Travel size hand lotion: because, well, its nice to have.
• Lip balm: ditto.
• Quirky Earbud Wrap: This is great, my cords don't get tangled and it's slim. I found mine at Target in the $1 bin a few months ago
• Booklight. This was actually a gift from my Secret Santa/Cousin last Christmas. She and I got each other and both did gift certificates to a book store and book-related item. It was adorbs. 

This post is rather stream-of-conscious so please bear with me...

Midterms are around the corner! If I knew "exam" or "test" I could sign that phrase, thanks to ASL I. Classes are going well with the exception of some pop quizzes in Hearing Science. That ish is not fun. The tests aren't so bad, it's the pop quizzes that'll kill you. This messes with my mind more than I can say. But, that's college for you!

ASL has also been a bipolar course for me. Some days I really consider withdrawing (I think with five courses I'm easy to despair.) And then on days like today, I think about taking higher courses later. Perhaps what I'll do is stick to free online stuff or go to meetups, etc. It's a really fascinating course and I love it except for the actual communicative acts. I know that must sound insane. I love learning about communication but I hate communicating.

Dante: You hate people!
Randal: But I love gathering. Isn't it ironic?

This is because I'm still quite shy when it comes face to face. Or on the telephone, I hate those things. So, you would think Speech Pathology would be a rough future but here's where I go all multi-layered and human, I am fine when it's a professional setting. I have no problem as long as I have some kind of purpose. But, Kate, isn't every exchange purposeful? Be it to gain knowledge or foster kinship? Yeah, it totally is. But still. I don't like it most of the time unless I know you well. And I like it all the less when I have limited ability and/or am nervous about it. And what I don't like about ASL courses is that it's totally making me face my fears and address this shortcoming. It's making me grow and I'm not into it. Har.

We're reading Oliver Sacks' Seeing Voices in class and it's, no surprise here, wonderful. I find the grammar difference of ASL fascinating and frustrating all at the same time. I have the incredibly unfair and down-ruight disrespectful impulse to expect ASL to conform to English. I am learning to separate the two and treat ASL like it deserves: as a fully functioning language. I thought I knew that before, I really did, but I was wrong. I was biased. This class and this book are making me think about how I think and how much of thought is encoded versus not. I'm no neuroscientist, obviously, but I'm fascinated. Bonus points: since I am so busy these days, pleasure-reading has fallen by the wayside and Sacks writes in such a pleasant way. His footnote use reminds me of reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I admit, I never finished because I lent it to Dad after Stroke Number One.

In other class news, since I don't have much pleasure-reading time, I'm trying to combine Tolkien and classwork. Last Friday I started transcribing The Hobbit into IPA. (/ðə hɑ́bɪt/) I'm hoping I can use a recording of either The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings and transcribe it for my final project. My other idea, which I think would be way too hard, is to transcribe a Bob Dylan song.

Yes to Staying In More

Ten years ago (almost to the day, in fact!) I started working at a cafe in my neighborhood. I left last year and it's still strange to think how many major life events occurred there. I didn't go straight to college and those major milestones of the late teens to early twenties all occurred there. I still refer to friends I made at that time as "college friends" because it's about that period of my life, less so the setting.

Since school started last month our schedules have become crazy. 11 hour days five days a week. Phew! When I was 20 I was working 11-12 hour days four days a week; getting to work at 6:30 and staying up until 2AM half the time (and consuming copious amounts of alcohol to boot.)

How did I do it? Our alarm goes off at 5:45 M-F and I'm usually in bed by 9:30 at night. Sometimes I crash on the couch watching "Fringe" or "The West Wing" around 8:30 I won't deny. BuzzFeed really nailed it with their "Life In Your Early Twenties vs. Your Late Twenties" list.

So, what have your favorite nerds been up to these last few weeks? Sleep! Homework! D&D! Renn Fest!

I humbly present one of my favorite photos of the two of us (short of wedding photos) ever taken:

We went for the Snooty Rulers look.
(There are two more people in the shot but since they don't
write a blog I don't think it's fair to post their photos.)

Classes are kicking my butt a bit. ASL is really cool but really challenging since I'm super upcoordinated. Phonetics is my favorite so far because it's so much fun and nerdy as all get out. I mean, we had to make magnets for an assignment. IPA Magnets. Dee-lightful.

Hearing Science has been tough, it's a lot of math which hasn't been too bad because my Trig professor from last year was so great and I have (a little) confidence. I prefer the physics to the straight math refresher, admittedly. The other two courses are rather blah, mostly material I have learned before. The downside to changing majors as many times as I have is that I have taken A LOT of basic psychology and development courses. Sometimes it's tempting to skip but I only get one a semester so I have to be careful.

Wardrobe Vikings

We have this hilarious little room in the middle of our second floor. It would be, as our first landlord put it, perfect for a nursery because it is so small. It would be a terrible nursery or children's room, in reality, because there's no natural light in there. I mean, there is a window, but it is to a vent and cannot be opened anyway, because the awesome painters hired by the leasing company painted it shut. Please remember what makes all of the bad repairs in this place extra amusing is that this house was built for contractors to stay in on long jobs here in Charm City. The company is based in New Jersey and it was cheaper  to buy a property and allow guys to stay in it than a hotel room and restaurant expenses. But anyway...

Our solution was to turn it into a walk-in closet/dressing room. James dresses well for work which, pro-tip, usually correlates to easier classroom management. I, on the other hand, wear jeans and t-shirts ninety-nine percent of the time. I dress up for weddings and that's about it.

Or at least that is how it used to be. I've noticed "a change [in] the way I strut my stuff" to borrow a phrase from the Anne Margaret tune. (Man that song is awful/awesome. It's a little too misogynistic but I also love it, so who knows?)

I find myself not wearing ripped up t-shirts ass often, and actually trying to understand what is/not fashionable. I mean, I'm not going crazy and reading Vogue or anything but I'm looking around. I wear makeup on a regular basis these days. I had my eyebrows waxed (great experience!) I bought new shoes twice in a month that weren't tenny runners. No one is more amazed than I.

However, before I can claim that "my old habits are gonna be gone" (tell me that song isn't stuck in your head, now, too) that means I need to cull the large amount of ill-fitting clothing I've been harboring for 10-15 years. Thank god no one caught this before "What Not To Wear" went off the air. I think the only show I would have actually gone on would be the short-lived "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" since he's awesome and really taught people the difference between their errors and their style.

So, why am I airing all this dirty laundry? Because I'm cleaning out my closet (Too many idioms!) and re-organizing the room and my collection. This, because I'm me, requires drawing up plans, culling the herd, and donating what is not ripped-up or gross. I have a lot of clothes that were James' that shrunk in the dryer. They would fit a guy just fine but make me look awful. I'm such a cheapsKate.  

Moving On

Today is the second anniversary of losing my beloved father. I haven't cried (yet) and seem to be thinking of the good things in life, instead. I have a photo of him that I look at fondly and am trying to imagine he would be proud of where I am in my life today. I know he supported me in following Speech Language Pathology and it gives me strength to work in a field that he believed I would do well in. I can still picture his face, with the crooked smile and nod he gave me when I asked, "Do you think I'd be a good speech pathologist?" (okay, I teared up writing that.) Not a day goes by when I don't wish it was just a long, bad dream and that I can call him and hear his voice again. But I stopped believing this was possible awhile ago. Grief is hard but at least I had someone so wonderful to raise me for the (albeit too brief) time that I did. I wouldn't trade that for anything, no matter how much it hurts.

In that spirit, I'm going to continue to try to improve things in our lives and remember the really good stuff. I will move forward because, well, that's really the only option.

As I will undoubtedly continue to mention, school is approaching quickly for the both of us. I can't believe it's August already! On Friday we got to see the family at the joyous occasion of our cousin's wedding. They looked so happy to finally be married and we're excited for our family to grow! Congrats M&M!

As the countdown to school begins (the 28th for me; 19th for him) I want to use my time wisely. Suddenly my days are going to begin early in the morning again and I do not want to be caught unawares! I am, in truth, excited to get back to an early morning routine. Maybe the almost ten years of working in a coffee shop have made me into a morning person. But, maybe a camping trip would help me get back to it (*nudges husband*)

So, in my overly nerdy way I've made a list of ways I want to change my routines for the healthier. New Year's resolutions are for the birds; Autumn resolutions are where it's at! A lot of these will help my Day Zero Project, too!

1. Start the Day Off Right

Begin every morning in the (newly organized) office reading the news in a quiet and relaxing way. I like to use FlipBoard as my news aggregate. Right now I read it on my phone but I'm giving great consideration to getting an iPad for school and that would work very well for news catchup as well. This also gives James a chance to have his morning routine downstairs — everybody needs personal time and first thing in the morning is a great slice. 

2. First Breakfast
Have a banana for breakfast (I'm never hungry first thing but the energy boost and nutritional value cannot be beat! I'd like to get James on this as well. Before my coffee I'd like to make sure I drink at least 12 ounces of water. My handy Nalgene bottle is great for that; I keep it bedside and can take a slog before even leaving the sheets. 

3. Planned Outfit 

I'm not really a clotheshorse. I wore boys clothes half the time as a kid (and an adult). I wear a regular combination of jeans and vneck tee shirt most days of the week. But running around to find said setup can still be annoying and needlessly stressful. I need to cull the herd of clothing I no longer wear and this will be all the easier. I'm not sure I need to have week's worth of clothes ready on say, Sunday, but the night before is something I can manage. 

4. Last Call
No alcohol after 10 pm. This isn't really going to be difficult for me anymore, a year ago sure, but these days I have a cider or two every few days and I'm beat by 8:30. Welcome to being old. Or not a heavy drinker (totally okay with me.)

5. Bedtime Routine

After 10pm it's nothing but water and a cup of herbal tea before bed. James has his own routine of "Goodnight Milk" (I know, adorbs.) I want to make sure my butt is in the bed by 11 at the latest. I'm also going to limit the reading I do in there. I can get taken away by the book and find myself wondering how 3am snuck up on me. Right now I am rereading The Lord of the Rings which has been wonderful. I also got a cheap copy of a Jane Austen omnibus to keep by the bedside. Familiar and cozy reading is just what I need.

Orientation Express

Look, I thought I was supposed to
be getting a change of scenery.
But so far, I've been in a train and a room,
and a car and a room,
and a room and a room. 

On Tuesday I had orientation for the first semester at Towson. I was expecting to be bored stiff and wind up cranky like Paul's grandfather in A Hard Day's Night, but, to my surprise, it was informative and only got a little leg cramp while sitting there for a few hours. I got to meet my advisor (which was luck of the draw more than anything) as she was on hand to help us enroll in our courses. I can tell it's a good match, I got a really good first impression that I can hope is two-sided. I'm always impressed by someone else who does their homework before a meeting. Whereas I had already peered around the TU website and looked up several courses (also getting permission from the powers that be to enroll in them) she reviewed my transcript and put me at ease about Core Requirements and had a sheet ready for me keep. I felt the nerdlove. I am sad to report that I will not be taking A&P this fall. Transfer students cannot register until much later than everyone else to the spots were all gobbled up. That's okay, I'll gobble it up for Spring when I have enrollment priority and my course-load will be lighter so its a better time to take on a tougher course. In it's place I will be taking DFST 104 which is American Sign Language (I).

Now I'm rearing to go and absolutely ready for fall weather and last night it came, I felt like a powerful wizard. Much like when I was a kid, come August I was ready to buy pencils and books and get my butt into the classroom. But for the next few weeks (classes start the last week of August) I can get ready with meal plans and fruit leather recipes to make the transition easier. James and I both get to sleep in late right now, moreso myself than he, but we'll be waking with the sun soon enough!

SLP Summer

I have been accepted into the SLP program for Fall 2013. After some minor issues, just my transcript not arriving on time, I was one of the 70 selected to for the this year's cohort. I am beyond thrilled. And relieved!   My degree will be in Speech Language Pathology & Audiology. From this I will need to enroll in graduate school and receive my master's degree before I can practice.

The classes this fall are a lot of background in SLP that I'm excited to take. I will be taking:

• Intro to Human Communication & Disorder
• Language Development in Children
• Phonetics of American English 
• Articulation and Phonological Disorders
• Anatomy and Physiology I & A&P Lab Component 
• Hearing Science

I am excited about all of them which is really comforting and makes me feel like I made the correct choice. I have orientation coming up in the end of July and I will register classes and receive my student ID card, etc. Until then I've taken care of the small incidentals like getting vaccinated and tested for Tuberculosis. James very sweetly treated me to a Fishamajig afterwards since I didn't cry or nothin'. The reward from being 8 still work when I'm 28, which is good to know. Also, after the appointment I walked to the nearest library and hid among the books. The apple does not fall far. James laughed when I told him I took out a few more titles; my current checked-out total is somewhere in the double digits.

My other school related summer project is to do research into getting an iPad. My  current laptop is beginning to fail (I have had it for three years) and it's driving me crazy! I know that there are lots SLP-related apps and the like for iPad. In fact, right before Dad passed away he was going to get one to help him. I also really like the interface and ease of transport. It's the pricetag I'm not thrilled about! I know some of our family members have iPads so I would love to hear your thoughts on them (tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly!)

James is working a summer job for the school district and seems to be really enjoying it. I know it's better than being at home for the summer, which drives him crazy every year.

In other news, we finally got a grill and have been BBQing as often as we can. It's been monsoon season here in the city and the poor Beagle hates every second of it. (I'm working on a beagle photo post so just you wait!)