170-Almost-Free-Dollars

Hi everyone!

I am back at the 'Bright and refreshed after a week of relaxation at home. I really don't know why I bring my backpack full of books home... because I am notorious for not doing any of it! It's so hard to feel studious at home, it just doesn't have that academic pressure surrounding it and I find myself just enjoying time with the family and watching "idiot television" (term referring to reality tv by my my friends and I). So, now it's back to the grind and I also am taking GIS (geographic information systems) with Brian Benusa and our first exam was today... and it was super hard! Fortunately, I am able to pass/fail this class (you get one pass/fail use for a course per year through your sophomore to senior years) so I only need to get a C on it. It's so weird to walk into a test and not have the pressure and nerves of wanting to get an A... it's pretty liberating actually! Although, I can't get used to it because I still have 3 other biology classes that I need to kick ass in!

Now that I am back, I am also ready to begin preparing for a conference I am presenting at. Not only has Albright given me the opportunity to do undergradute research by doing an ACRE, but now they are also paying for me to attend a conference to present that work! Myself and 2 other Albright students will be heading to LaCrosse, Wisconsin for 3 days in April to attend the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR for short). I am really excited to see other research projects and have another great experience to put on my resume... however, I am also super nervous because I have to give a 15 minute presentation on my research from last summer!! Needless to say, I need to start refreshing myself with that material and practicing, but fortunately I'll have 2 Albright friends in the audience as well as our 3 mentors in the crowd for support.

While Albright is shelling out the $170.00 for the conference (and more for the airfare), it's not exactly free! I have to present... which means I need to look "adult-like"... ummm, yeah. No one at Albright has seen me walk across campus in a pair of heels (because I would be keeled over by Albright pond dying from pain!) and I am basically a jeans and sneakers kind of gal... hence the reason I want to do field biology, haha. So, I spent some of my break finding more professional outfits, which will also get good use when I'll need to interview at graduate schools in the fall anyway... so it's for the best (even though I hate it!).

That's what's new with me... ooh and I am also counting down the 3 weeks until Easter (hopefully they go by soon). I hope the college decision making is going well for everyone, I still remember the agony of waiting for replies and then then having to make the pain-staking decision of where you're home for next 4 years would be (and I don't miss it! haha). PS- hopefully see some of you at the open house/brunch this Saturday? Maybe I'll be sitting with you & eating french toast? haha so come with questions because my grandma says a quiet meal is the worst kind of meal!

~*Sara