Journal Entry #119: 01/20/25 - So Cold...

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Alright, the first week of classes concluded last week. Naturally, I had today off, but it looks like I will get tomorrow off as well, in a way.

On Monday I attended some of my classes and helped a friend walk his schedule. My professors all seem alright, and my discrete structures professor is a little quirky, which I don't mind at all. I also helped put something together for the leadership retreat for my student org. On Tuesday I went to my other two classes that I have. My schedule's never been terrible, but I've already grown fond of this semester's. It's nice to only have two classes in the day on Tuesday and Thursday. Although they are both 1h 15m classes, they happen in the mid-morning/early afternoon, allowing for the majority of my day to be spent doing work or other important things. Fifteen credit hours sure feels nice. Wednesday and Thursday were most of the same, and on Friday the student org I work for had its leadership retreat. On Thursday I had a long, fun, talk with a freshman I know. We have great conversations, but we don't meet up often and I really need to change that. That's the week in a nutshell.

The Leadership Retreat

The leadership retreat was nice, although its planning gave me a headache. There was a long arduous call about shifting blame and responsibility along with solving problems and communication. I issued a strike I had no business issuing and I will likely have to face punishment for my actions as unchecked they could ruin the organization. The retreat started on Friday evening, with a roundtable to reflect on the past semester. There was a presentation about a specific branch, we ordered pizza and had fun at the rented house, we talked some more and then went to bed. 

Saturday morning came along and I woke people up as some leaders prepared breakfast. We ate and briefed a little bit on project management and had some devotion. I then had to pick people up to bring to the house, but there were some problems: I got stuck at a railroad crossing and had trouble navigating one of the residences I had to pick up from. Eventually, we got back, but we were late, so everyone was already settled except for us. I did a few presentations, we ate lunch (pizza again), and had a surprise guest, the mother of a member, who is a colonel. I had zero idea. We continued with presentations; our advisor gave one about the college experience. All traveling members were taken home, and the remaining members discussed the calendar. We briefed for a while, but finally, it concluded, and I went to bed.

I woke up early again Sunday morning and waited for breakfast. The team decided to watch church at home, and it was interesting to see the differences between non-denominational churches and Catholic churches, as the latter is what I'm familiar with. I had bought some nice string letters and had put them up for the retreat, but someone had thrown them away while I was asleep. The soon-to-be president apologized and reimbursed me, though he likely wasn't the one who threw them away. That was sweet of him. I spent Sunday morning cleaning up the house and packing my things, and I returned to my apartment. I also got some groceries.

Today has, for the most part, just been a relaxing day (kind of). I'm glad the leadership retreat happened when it did, as I was able to get some rest today. It's been super cold, and I've been in my room all day, so I need to go outside tomorrow, even though it's going to be even colder. I'll talk about the weather in a second. I did a tiny bit of work for my student org today, but I'm going to have to do a ton tomorrow.

The Weather

The weather is driving me crazy. January is typically the coldest month in my area, but geez. It got above freezing for a few good hours, and now we're back under it. I need Spring now! We're forecast to have snow tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it. Regardless, the university will be operating remotely, and my instructors can either have online classes, push the lesson back, or do some third thing I can't remember. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from either of my Tuesday/Thursday instructors yet. Hopefully, they say something tomorrow morning. The snow's likely to happen in the evening, and if it sticks, it could spell trouble for Wednesday. I hate missing class early in the semester. I hate missing class period.

Gifts and Other Material Things

YouTooz just released vinyl Tally Hall figures! I'm having to restrain myself from getting them. It would be cute to get the corresponding Andrew and Rob figures since I already have their plushes...My shoes that I was looking at over the break have arrived, but I haven't been able to get them as they were shipped someplace that is not my apartment which was closed today. Mail is likely going to be slow due to the weather. I also just ordered a ton of stuff, none of it's remarkable (for a public blog), but I am anxiously awaiting these things. Also, I've become a bit of a keyboard nerd. I'm getting this beautiful Xbox-inspired keyboard from 8bitDo! It's so pretty, I could go on and on. Oh, also my cold's gone. That's nice.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. This was a big post, which is interesting considering the first week of school tends to not have much going on. Things never stay the same lol. Hopefully this week continues to be alright despite the cold.

Boa noite,

AstraGenesis ᯓ★

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