"I just can't deal with this right now."

1. Document the sleep deprived quotations.
2. Ever in Ames, Iowa?  Eat at Jeff's Pizza.
3. Go.  You won't regret it.
4. Salsa Doritos are actually kind of good.

Megan here, better late than never right?  I promise I'll post next Wednesday.

Sadly, the title seemed to be my inner mantra for the last two weeks.  It knew I was in for a marathon with MBLGTACC alone, but then my family emergency popped up as well as a few other things I didn't account for.  I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed.  To give you an idea, I spent 19 hours in a vehicle over a span of 5 days and during those 5 days, I went a 72 hour stint with 11 total hours of sleep.  It was really rough and I kind of got a little bit goofy on the ride back.  MBLGTACC was incredible though and feel free to ask us about it.  It was a life changing experience as someone put it in our meeting yesterday, and I really really hope to be able to make next year's conference in Michigan.

I guess I learned a lot over the last week.  Sure, some things I didn't want to know, but it happens.  I was just stressed over going home and having to finally come to terms with another death in the family. There's been 4 since winter break started. Plus the funeral was on Valentine's Day which I already associate with negative connotations having nothing to do with over-commercialization or my currently single status.  So yeah, it was rough, especially with living out of a suitcase and missing classes and whatnot.

Things are rough sometimes, and sometimes they're utterly overwhelming and difficult, but they do get better.  I got back to campus on Tuesday night after white knuckling it through a snow storm to get here.  Yay for 30 mph on the interstate! (I digress) and so yesterday was my first full day back and I was so happy to just have familiarity and routine again.  Yesterday felt great for me.  I felt genuinely good and not stressed out.  Things definitely felt better, and I feel better in general.  It just goes to show that while things may be stressful, they can also be good at the same time.  MBLGTACC opened my eyes to a lot of things, plus I bonded with a lot of amazing people.  I learned, I laughed, I cried, and I experienced solidarity like I've never felt before.  Sure I was stressed when I got back over having to go home, but home was exactly where I needed to be and I'm glad I went back.  I would have regretted it if I hadn't, and I really needed the closure.

Feeling overwhelmed and like you can't handle things as they currently are, much less when an emergency arises, is scary; that's what friends are for.  Reach out and let someone else support you until things stabilize, and then you can get back to normal.  Things will ease up, and they will get better. 

Trust in other people as well as yourself.  You're going to be just fine.
Have a great week and hug someone you love.

-Megan

Better Days

1. Conserve dining dollars so you can pig out on comfort food during the last two weeks
2. My laptop (now known as Dorky) does not have the battery capacity to handle both a Spanish film and a Psych lecture.
3. Appreciate little moments, like when someone starts playing a flute in DS
4. It's nice to receive two letters in one day.
5. Find things to look forward to. (I'm looking forward to the Christmas concert)

Hey, It's Megan. Happy Wednesday.

It is the first week back on campus and we've all been hurled into hyper speed with finals, projects, and papers. It's definitely rough and stressful going, but all the Christmas decorations are popping up over night and they're fun to see.

All the stress and projects and things have left us a little bit at a loss. There's no time to sit and simply exist anymore. On Friday I'm reading Life Without Principle by Thoreau, and in it he criticizes being busy all the time because it doesn't allow one time to reflect or work on reaching a deeper level of personal depth. It's true though! When we have open time to just exist, we usually spend it together and talk or do things that contribute to our own depth of existence. We take that time to learn about ourselves and one another, but we are still learning, and it is still hugely important. Now, we don't have much time to do that at all... and it's easy to lose oneself in the mess.

Unfortunately, we can't avoid the stress of everything. And it's almost certain to get worse before it gets better, so here is some of my advice for getting through all the work.
1. Eat well
2. If listening to music, listen to instrumentals to not get distracted (Search "Study music" on Youtube)
3. Take short study breaks
4. Plunge

Let me explain plunge. Plunging is when you completely throw yourself into what you're doing. Find some passion and use it to complete your current project. You have to lose track of time and stop focusing on how big of a pain it is and just dive right into it. I find that If I can get into the zone, I'm more efficient and end up with a better finished product. Think of it as swimming under water. I don't know about you, but I swim faster under water than on the surface. Less splashing and flailing, and overall chaos I think. So take the plunge (and it's perfectly okay to wear floaties.)

It may not seem like it, but better days are ahead. It may seem like the chaos and stress will never end, but it will. You just have to maintain your sanity, hunker down, and push through it. Better days will come, and it'll be okay to sit and talk for a few hours, or have a relaxing lunch, or just goof off. So find something to motivate you to get all the work done, remember your floaties so you won't drown when you take a small study break, and smile. It's going to be okay. It is definitely going to get better.

I leave you with a link to this song... 'cause I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-kHleNYIDc&ob=av2e

And here's an acoustic guitar playlist I always find helpful for studying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlyHbu0zz4&list=PL7C739E2E2D7E861C&feature=plpp_play_all

-Megan