Neuropsychology Lecturer

Alright, I know I said that I was going to try and do two posts today for making up for the whole getting ill thing. But tonight is the last mad dash to get my essay done. It is currently 1,052 words which is just under the minimum limit. It's supposed to be 1,200 words plus or minus ten percent. So, it can be between 1,080 and 1,320 words. It also only happens to be two paragraphs instead of three. I was going to write a third one, but with my argument there really is nothing left to say, I've argued my point well and clearly, and if I add another 400 word paragraph I might go over. So, I'd rather keep it clear and concise than write another paragraph that doesn't add anything to the overall argument. I'm going to think a little more tonight about what I could write and if something comes to me that looks like it might work with my essay then I'll happily put it in.

Oh, but hey, I'm suppose to be telling you about one of my psychology lecturers.

This one is not my favourite lecturers, but he's also not my least favourite. He's right there in the middle. Here are what I think are his main problems. He has interesting things to say (it's neuropsychology after all), but I don't think he conveys it well. Or, rather, he conveys it well when he's speaking but he doesn't really utilize the powerpoint. So I think that the powerpoint is a little distracting at times. I also think he goes a little too fast and a little too slow. He sort of just glazes over some things and then takes his time with other things. It's the things he just speeds through that I don't ever end up having notes for because I just can't type that quickly. I don't dislike him, but I also don't like him. I definitely go to all of his lectures because if I don't I know I'm not going to understand what his slides are saying.

It doesn't help that it's something that it's hard for me to wrap my mind around. If it weren't something that I could easily just get, then it wouldn't be a problem. Ah well. 

The Turn in Day Jitters

Today has not been a great day. This morning I arose from my bed with a feeling of dread. I didn't know what I had forgotten, but I knew that there was something that I forgot to the night before. I walked toward my door to go to into the bathroom and take my retainers out when I passed by a note on my cork board. What did this note say?

SAQs due Sunday by midnight!

I almost began banging my head on the door. I felt so stupid. When I crawled into bed last night I knew I had to do something and as soon as my head hit the pillows I remembered and went, "alright, time to get up and do them. It'll only take 20 minutes." I didn't get up. I fell asleep. Shoot!

On top of that I turned in my report today and did a presentation on it. Stressed? Yes, very much so. The report I'm sure is a 17-19 so I'm good on that and the presentation didn't seem to go too bad. So, my stress level is a little down and tonight I get to play boardgames tonight (it's my treat).

Tomorrow starts a new theme for blogging month. I haven't shown you a lot of Aberdeen or my campus, so that's what I'm going to do. It's going to be a mostly picture week, but I don't think there should be much complaint there.

Failed?

Oh gosh! I can't believed that I've already failed! I got home last night around eleven and decided that the best thing for me to do was the get a good night's sleep and then finish the report in the morning. I would go down to campus early and finish it before my class. So when I got home I just washed my face and fell into bed. I was pretty tired so I'm not beating myself up over the whole thing, but still...I can't believe it.

It's not even something I can really defend. I had my committee meeting yesterday for the Roleplaying Society and I was going to work on my report and blog posts in the 4 hours between meeting and my game but I went to the cinema instead. I know, I should have been working, but the movie was a lot of fun.

I had a post lined up about the stress of the night before, but I guess I'll leave you with, "I'm totally stressed and will get to campus very quickly to finish this darn thing."

I'll post again later this afternoon to make up for my lack of diligence.

Sound Reactions

As a puppy raiser I have certain terms to describe a puppy's behaviour, thinking, status...well everything. One of the these terms is "sound reactive." Basically this is when I puppy becomes nervous, stressed, or scared when he/she hears sudden, loud noises. Obviously, this isn't used to describe a puppy who gets a little scared but recovers quickly and gets back to work. This is used to describe a puppy who shuts down when they hear a sudden, loud noise. I've often wondered why I am allowed to raise puppies as I am noise reactive.

Today is Bonfire Day. It's like the Fourth of July in that people shoot off fireworks. I for one hate fireworks. I mean I HATE them. I don't quite understand them and they cause me a great deal of stress. All they do is cause a great deal of noise and pollute our already sickly air.

I had to walk home this evening with fireworks going off all around me. It wasn't what I would call a good time. I kept jumping and turning around every time one went off near me. At least I wasn't walking through any neighbourhoods where they were shooting them off. The smoke usually sets off an asthma attack if I'm too close.

So, I've got the TV on loud and proud and I'm sitting here (alone) in comfy pants with a cup of hot chocolate whilst trying not to hear the pops and booms outside and forget the fact that I'm alone. (It's a Saturday night and I've got nothing to do except sit by myself and watch TV. Yeah, I'm cool.) 

At least I had fun last night.

The Stress of Travelling

Not only is sitting in a little seat for hours on end a little stressful but planning the trip can be just as emotionally draining and exhausting.

For the past couple of weeks (since I left home in September really) I've been trying to make the decision about whether or not I should go home for Christmas. I've been considering the cost of a round trip ticket which is ridiculous and how much I would miss being home over the holidays. I was talking with my dad about the cost of the ticket and he said that he would pay for our (my brother's and my) tickets home this one time. So, that issue was quickly put into the "pros" column.

I don't think I would really mind staying here in Scotland for Christmas especially since Greg (that's my brother) would be coming over from Sweden for a few days. I could handle it.

But then, I think about Hilly. For those of you who don't know who Hilly is...well, she's my dog. Not the family dog or my parents' dog, but MY dog. Over the summer I finished raising Hilly for Guide Dogs for the Blind before it was decided that she hadn't made enough progress to continue on to be a Guide. When she was Career Changed (our fancy way of saying she failed Guide Dog Puppy Training) I jumped at the opportunity to make her a permanent part of my family. In short, she's my forever dog; my heart puppy. Unfortunately, bringing a dog with you to University is hard enough when you're just on the other side of the country let alone half way across the world. So, because I know that it was better for her, I left her with my dad and step-mom. I'll be honest, every time I think about not seeing her over this Christmas...I get sad enough to cry.

Now, I've been talking with my brother about what he wants to do and I made the decision that I would stay if he decided to stay so that he would have family. I was talking with him today and he said that he had decided to stay. He doesn't like flying and flying over for only 10 days and then turning around and flying back is stressful. So, I too decided that I would stay and we would spend Christmas together.

Then I found out that my father was getting excited about seeing both of us this Christmas. Way back in September I said that I wouldn't be able to come back for both Christmas and summer break because of the cost of the ticket...but my dad is now offering to pay for the ticket. And I would get to see Hilly and spend some time with some more puppies.

I really want to see Hilly again and if I wait until summer it will have gone almost a year without seeing her. This is getting so stressful! Shouldn't it just be as easy as saying "yes" or "no" and be done with it?

My Sweet Tooth

Do any of you watch The Closer? I watch it occasionally and always enjoy it (in fact I don't know why I'm not recording it). The main character is Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgwick. Deputy Chief Johnson runs the Priority Homicide department in the LAPD. I am sometimes reminded of me when I watch it.

You see, Brenda Johnson has this odd, little quirk. She keeps a drawer in her office desk full of different chocolaty snacks which she gorges on when she's stressed. I also have this bad habit. When I get stressed I tend to mindlessly eat different sweets without noticing until I get that stomach ache that tells me that I've had far too much sugar during the day and not enough fruits and vegetables.

At the moment my drawer is full of Fruit Pastilles, two different chocolate bars, and chocolate eclairs. Normally, the days after Halloween I could go out and buy really cheap bags of candy and keep my drawer stocked, but Halloween isn't terribly big here. Unfortunately this means that most of my comfort sweets are unavailable to me.

You see, you can get American sweets here but not in the small variety. What I could use right now is a big bag of Reece's Halloween candy. That, and a big bag of York Mints.

I know this isn't the healthiest of habits, but sinking my teeth into a Peanut Butter Cup or a patty of chocolate and mint is just lovely when I'm biting my nails and pulling my hair out.

The Power of Shaving

November is not only National Blogging Month, but also "No Shave November." I personally have never participated in "No Shave November." And, seeing as I shaved last night, I don't think this year will be the year I start.

You might think that it's weird that I'm talking about shaving on a blog, but I find that shaving is a great way to relieve stress. That might be because when I shave, I do it right.

Last night, after working for three hours on m Psychology report only to feel like I was getting nowhere, I finally stumbled upon a journal article I could use. I read through it, jotted down a few quotes and points of interest to use in the report, then wrote down the full citation so I wouldn't have to do it later. At this point I was still feeling a little stressed. Three hours of work and thirty years of journal articles in two different Psychology journals and all I found was one article and a few quotes. So, I ran a bath.

Like I said, when I shave, I do it the right way. I ran a ridiculously hot bath and sunk into it all the while my skin shouting from the pain. It got over it quickly. I'm use to hot climates. I'm one of those people who needs a hot shower or hot bath to be happy and I don't quite understand people who don't. My flatmate is one of those people. Who take what I would consider cold showers and still think they're hot. I just don't get it. Hot water relaxes the muscles more so it takes away stress from them. Anyway, I sat there reading a book, a pleasure book mind you, not something for school, for about an hour. The water by this time was tepid. It's about this time when I start to shave because I know cool water is not too far away. I use a nice smelling soap or shaving cream (right now I'm working my way through Dove's Shower Cream because they've been on sale) and then slowly shave my legs. It allows me time to think and legitimately be by myself for just a while.

When I'm in my room, I'm consciously aware of my flatmate in the next room. But for some reason, when I'm in the bath, the rest of the world seems to melt away and all that exists is me and my hot water.

Again, it's a weird subject to talk about on a blog and you might be wondering why I'm sharing my shaving secrets with you. It's my personal belief that if anyone out there is tense or upset, then all they need is an hour a day to themselves. Truly to themselves. And I'm of the belief that people would be happier if they took a hot bath everyday.

National Blogging Month

It's November once again. You all know what that means don't you? That's right! It's national blogging month and with national blogging month comes the challenge to write a post a day for the whole month. I did this last year, and I plan to do it again this year. However, this year I'm going to have a different theme a week to help guide my posts. This week's theme is going to be stress while in University because I've been experiencing a lot of it lately.

Let me tell you a quick story about yesterday's psychology tutorial. You might remember from last semester that in my Method's course I have to run experiments and then write a psychological report on the results. This year we did something similar to the PSE (picture superiority effect) this year in that we had to test recall involving different words. We were all put into groups and then presented four different things to test. My group was the last to be called upon and everyone else had taken the other subjects so our group said we'd take the last one which was "frequency/familiarity". Sounds simple right?

Well, you're wrong. Don't feel bad, I was wrong as well. When we said that's the one we'd take he said "just choose either frequency or familiarity", so we all just said that we'd do familiar versus unfamiliar words. He also said that they were basically the same thing so it didn't really matter. Simple right? Wrong again. We do the experiment and everything is going smoothly. We take the hypothesis that people were more likely to remember more familiar words and less unfamiliar words. I was feeling pretty confident about writing the report because I understood what I needed to do and how to do it.

Yesterday was the next tutorial after we had run the experiments and after we took a small quiz we were given some time to work on our reports. I had noticed that there weren't any journal articles put up on "MyAberdeen" involving any previous studies with familiar word recall, just frequent words. I asked if it would be alright if I used those journal articles for the background research we are suppose to do for the report and he said something along the lines of, "oh well, you should have done frequency, but I guess if you changed your hypothesis you could do it." I also could do it if we did a different experiment.

Long story short; yesterday I went from confident about what I was going to do to really confused and really stressed about what I should do. Neither of the journal articles online deal at all with an hypothesis that I can think of that deal with the experiment we did.

So what did I do yesterday to calm down. Went to bed at 8pm and cried. I just needed to sleep. Normally I would have done something like take a hot bath or read or play a computer game, but I honestly couldn't deal last night. Dealing a lot better today and I'm glad that I don't have class tomorrow so I can just relax and start working.

What do you do to relieve stress?

This Semester's Classes

It's been a while since I last posted, but I assure you that's because I've been busy and not because I'm dead.

Last week was the first week of classes. It was a little bit of stress week of Erin because of my degree switch. Oh yes, I am now officially a Psychology student instead of an English student. I did have a little trouble in making that transition because I've always seen myself majoring in English. So, it was like a little piece of my childhood died. But, at least I am still able to take the English courses this year and I might be able to lecture crash next year which should be a lot of fun.

It was also a little bit stressful because the school of Psychology wanted me to add another course or two for the two first level Psychology courses they were exempting me from. So I thought that I would choose a language and since I might possibly live in California after my degree I decided on Spanish.

Now, my mother is fluent in Spanish and even taught it at university level for many years. Right now she is teaching it at a High School. I also took two university level semesters of Spanish my junior year of high school and received A's both semesters. And I briefly lived in Costa Rica when I was young which means pronunciation is easier for me than some other people. With all of this, I thought it would be a good idea for me to go into Spanish 1 because I hadn't been in a Spanish class for two years. I was wrong. Yesterday was my first Spanish lecture and I spent the majority of it trying not to bang my head on the desk in agony. Needless to say I'm going to try and get into a higher level Spanish so I don't have to hear "La is the article used for feminine words and El is the article for masculine words when saying "the" except with plural nouns. But we won't get into plural nouns just now because that might be a little difficult." There was a point yesterday when I thought, "just kill me now".

Now, I am full into the second week of classes and I'm not complaining (except when it comes to Spanish). I'm really enjoying Psychology this semester as it's all about childhood development. I've always found that an interesting subject. And this semester's English course is all about Shakespeare. So, fun times (except for Spanish).

Peace,
Erin

Fresher's Week

This past week I have been a very busy bunny. Fresher's week has been quite busy this year...probably because last year I was the scared, little sheet wondering around the "fayres" not knowing what to do or where to go and being mauled by people handing fliers and information cards and what not. This year I was the person mauling scared, little sheep with fliers and information cards.

My week started Sunday when the rolplaying association committee got together and realised that we hadn't done anything for Fresher's Society Fayre except make vague plans. So, we got the rest of the day off after the meeting (because we had already set up some board game and movie time!) then promised that we would get some work done! Which we did. Marlene and I headed down to the hobby store to buy black crape paper and silver spray paint on Monday. Tuesday was a pretty busy day. First I helped Jamie on some poster ideas then went to campus to print out big letters and work more on poster ideas and then Marlene came over and we all made a big sign out of the black paper and silver spray paint. Not only did we make the sign that said "AURA ROLEPLAYING" we also made two silver shields with the dragon we've come to think of as our crest. Then we all stayed up late into the night printing fliers and posters. Wednesday was the fayre and started out with me having to go print more fliers early in the morning due to a misspelling. Then we all worked the fayre from 9am-3pm. Mostly I was either walking around handing out fliers and directing people to our booth or running back and forth from the print room. I did take a small break due to a stomach ache and dizziness (I think I didn't eat enough). That night was the society pub quiz for new people. Thursday was a little more of a break, but Marlene, Lisa, Amy and I all went to buy food for the give it a go sessions and I made cookies, entered emails into the list and sent out some reminder emails to people who were not lucky enough to happen by the booth when we still had fliers. Friday I ran down to campus early to print reminder posters and put them up all around campus. I had an hour's break before give it a go and board gaming which lasted from 2pm-10pm. This morning I volunteered with Guide Dogs taking donation in the city center and then did board gaming with new people from 5:30-8:30 (it went until 10 but I was too tired).

Did I mention that between all of this I had a Tier 4 Visa Check and my advisor meeting (which deserves its own post due to all the hassle)? And that I have been living on one meal a day and crisps and biscuits in the afternoon for the past week? And that the electricity here shorted out my facial brush? And that I found out I have a lecture right at the time of puppy class and will have to figure out how to get things settled with the person in charge? There are a few words that describe me right now; broken, dead, stressed, sleepy, annoyed, etc. You take your pick and that's probably me. But I think one word sums all of it up.

EXHAUSTED!

Good Night! My week isn't over until Tuesday when I can stop stressing but until then...*bites nails* see you later.

Still Looking

So, y'all know the flat viewing we were suppose to go to yesterday? Yeah, that never happened. Why? Because on Tuesday someone viewed it and decided to lease it. *Insert four letter word here* That's the third time in a row this has happened to us. Can't the universe just give us a break and let us find a place to live before finals start? Pretty please?

On the bright side we still have a viewing for the Four Bedroom House next Wednesday. I feel more confident about this one than the others and I am perfectly willing and ready to find a place to store my stuff over the summer if we can't move in before July. Amy, Marlene, and I will all be home by the time July rolls around and Lisa's current lease runs out on June 10th. We'll figure something out if we really, really like the house. Currently, I'm all for taking it no matter what and I've just seen the outside of the house. But the outside is lovely and it has a nice little front garden and a shared back garden. At least I believe it's shared. It might be private, but either way I'd be happy.

Here's hoping that we'll be able to get this place.

First University Exam

Today is my first exam. I'll be honest, I haven't studied for this one as much as for the others. Just about everything is easier to study for than Linguistics. I sat down yesterday with the good intention of studying a little, just to refresh my mind, and I thought, "What the heck am I suppose to study?" So I ended up looking at the last class Power Point just to get my brain in the mood of communication. Since I missed the last class, and my professor never emailed me the practice exam like he said he would, I really don't know what to expect. I'm not all that worried though. My friend sat me down yesterday to help me with writing essays in the style expected in the UK and the first thing he wrote underneath the heading of "Exam Help" was "It is impossible for you to fail first year." When I gave him that quizzical look he said that it wasn't impossible is was just highly unlikely. Actually we did find out that it was impossible for me to fail my English course unless I didn't sit the exam...which I'm not planning on doing. After that I decided to see what I needed in all of my other courses and it is ACTUALLY impossible for me to fail my History of Art and my Gaelic courses as well as long as I write something down on the paper. I couldn't figure it out for Linguistics though because I have no idea what I got on my essay. Sure, I could have gone to the school office to pick up my essay (it was handed back after I was already back in the States), but I really just couldn't be bothered. I didn't want a good essay mark to inflate my head into thinking that I didn't have to study or a bad mark getting me all depressed before the exam. That would have caused me to stress and then to poorly in the exam because of the stress. So, I'm going to go into it with only enough of me caring to write something intelligent on the paper.

Wish me Luck!

November 19: Explode

What happens when Erin forgets that there is an essay due in one of her classes very soon? It's an interesting process, but the basic idea is this.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then my head explodes leaving no trace but icky, gooey crap stuck to my walls. All I can say now is, "Bring it on Modern Gaelic Culture Essay!!!!! Just try and hit me! I dare you."