Finals

I finished my last week of classes yesterday at 9:50 with Astronomy. My 1:00 class was cancelled because our teacher deliberately finished on Wednesday, which was nice. It also meant that I could go out with Lorie for some fun! First we went to get her haircut, which turned out SO beautiful. I knew she’d look good with short hair, and it makes her look older and more chic. Then we went to a few stores looking for just the right boots for a new dress she has, and fortunately she found them at Ross for less than 20 dollars, which apparently is a bargain. I, on the other hand, rummaged through the clearance rack of dresses and found four that were perfect for me, in more ways than one. First, they are ankle-length. It is so hard to find ankle length dresses! Designers seem to think girls only want knee-length or just-passed-the-knee-length dresses, which is NOT true. But I got a teal and a blue that were the same style, which looks like a mix between a mermaid and an empire, sort of. The tops are a little lacking in support, but I don’t mind. I like the backs too: they’re these cool knit designs. And then the best part was the prices: the teal was $3 and the blue was $5, not sure why they were different. The third dress is a purple tube top, with a kind of gypsy-looking print. Very pretty and summery, and also only $5. I decided not to get the fourth dress, which was a halter top, cotton, blue, and closer to an empire style. I liked it a lot, but it had even less support than the first dresses. So for about $13, I got three dresses for less than what I would have spent on the shipping for one of the amazing handmade hippie dresses I’ve been looking at online. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily think that these Ross dresses are better than the handmade ones, but at least I can HAVE these. At this moment in time I’m not willing to spend upwards of $70 on one item of clothing, no matter how much I love it, and I do absolutely love those hippie dresses.
Well then we got back to the dorm and Lorie took a nap before class, so I went to work on revising my best poems to go into my chapbook that I will turn in with my poetry workshop final on Tuesday. So far it’s going well, though I am getting stuck in a few poems. I also hung out in Mary and Darby’s room for a while and watched Angel with them and Kristin while continuing to work on poetry. That was fun, though not exactly productive, though I’m not sure I would have been any more productive sitting by myself all night, which I usually am, but I just wasn’t feeling up to being alone then.
Overall, I am not worried about my finals. My Astronomy final comprises only questions from the first four tests—nothing new—and since I made 100s on all four of those tests I think I can manage the final. My Lit Crit final is only identification: I’ll read a few paragraphs from different analytical essays and I need to write down which criticism is being used. Simple. But I also have to turn in a portfolio of the analyses I’ve written during the semester with some reflections on what I’ve learned. Also pretty simple, and it’s not due until Monday so I’ve got some time. For poetry I have to make my chapbook, then in the final we will revise a poem he hands us, and read two of our own poems to the class. Hopefully that will go well. My Film final is Monday night and is basically a simple comprehensive multiple choice test, or so I’ve heard, but since I’m not taking that class for a grade I’m not too stressed about it. I don’t have a Bowling final, and my Bible final isn’t until Wednesday and only covers that last amount of information we covered, so after my Lit Crit final on Wednesday morning, I can spend from then until Friday morning studying for that. For now I’m focusing on my poetry chapbook and Lit Crit portfolio, they are my priorities because they require the most thought and effort and are due sooner.
I’m so blessed to have such a laid-back finals week. I know quite a few people who are very stressed, so I know this is a gift, and I’m thankful for it. Now it’s just a matter of me actually sitting down and finishing everything. And Lord willing, Ben and I will be on our way home right after the Bible final on Friday with no heavy traffic, no accidents, no bad weather, and no car problems.