Getting Done with Five Credits and Thank Goodness for Thanksgiving!

As fall semester rushes to an end, course-load begins to pile up. Juggling social life, studies and work becomes harder and harder. In this time, thanksgiving break comes at the ideal time; right when I thought all this was gonna blow the can off of my patience.

From the beginning of last week, I had started planning out the way I will most leisurely utilize this break. Two of my classes, accounting and lifeguarding, gave me the option to take the final before finals week. This meant that if I paced myself enough I could get done with 5, out of my 15, credits before thanksgiving break this semester. (Could there be a better opportunity than this?)

Soon enough, I began preparing in the way I could most cautiously maneuver both the classes. The plan was to present for my management communication class on Monday and take the tests for both the classes on Tuesday, and ultimately, just have the whole thanksgiving break to myself. Just like that, I put my head down and dedicated myself towards accomplishing the task. Sure, it required cutting up on some sleep, but is that really something new for college students?

The weekend was spent frantically working to perfect the presentation. Since I was responsible for putting together the powerpoint, it required me to coordinate with my group members a lot, getting their perspectives and adjusting the presentation powerpoint accordingly (Hopefully, I did a good job and my group members aren't holding a grudge against me for that).

On Monday, I sent out the final powerpoint to my team members and we coordinated a time with our professor in the afternoon to present. The whole thing worked out perfectly, except for my presentation of course which had its fair share of glitches here and there. After spending the rest of the day studying for the two tests Tuesday, I felt ready to go out there and give it my best.

Tuesday, first, I had the lifeguarding test which I barely passed on the margin (not so impressed by my performance there, at all). Took a little break which I believed I had deserved by then. All fair, till I dozed off  on the couch after working out just one accounting problem (what a surprise!). I woke up to the emergency frenzy text messages of BYU campus security that Provo was going to be hit by the biggest blizzard of the history of Provo or blizzards. It meant one thing, take this to the accounting lab. So, there I was making my way to the library while still receiving recorded messages from campus emergency service of the warning for the catastrophic natural disaster about to encounter Provo. In library, they made the announcement over the PA system that campus was scheduled to close by 3 which meant I had only 80 mins to take the accounting final. Well, time to swallow the pill.

Initially, I had forgotten my ID, (oh worst timing!) so I had to run back to my apartment and grab that so I could take the test. Within 10 mins, I was in the testing center with the Accounting final in my hand. I had 75 mins to work out the 54 problems. I gave it my best, especially given the time constraint. I was glad when I walked out and found out my score. The job was done. Self!

I now had nothing but the awesome, long-awaited break ahead. The best I can describe the rest of the week is that I turned my lazy-mode on and stopped caring about school or work. Basically, nothing happened throughout the break. It was just the lazy me, on the couch, killing time. Except for Wednesday and Thursday for which I made actual plans with friends. Wednesday, I invited a friend over and we watched a scary movie at my apartment. It had been so long since I had seen a horror flick. Gotta admit, felt pretty good. Thursday, I had the best thanksgiving dinner eveerrr! (Frankly, this deserves a whole blog post on its own.)

Well, that was my break. Surely, I didn't conquer Mt. Timpanogos but I accomplished what I had in mind, and I believe that for now, that's what matters. I hope you had a fun week yourself. All the best!

My Birthday!

November 14th ... a child was born!

I wanted to start my blog post with a Jay Z lyric. Guess its just that random!

Today, I turned 20. I'm not sure if things were to change over night or not, but I guess an entire year has passed by. My second year at BYU has definitely made me realize so much I never thought about earlier. The teen years are behind me and life's gonna take its turn to seriousness... or will it?

There are definitely big things coming ahead, but the little things roll on, I believe (Maybe I should refrain from using such vague statements... haha). Career, marriage and whatnot--life brings so much from this moment on.

Bottom line: This was a good birthday! :)

Festival of Lights

This Saturday turned out to be one of the most nostalgic evenings I've had at BYU. Dewali - "The Festival of Lights" was organized by the Indian Students Association in the Wilk. Although I am not Indian. but since Pakistan has so much cultural heritage in common with India that that night felt like being in Pakistan.

The event included various performances on Bollywood tracks. I was amazed at the talent these performers had. I mean, the dances that they performed were no different from the choreographed steps in the most renowned Indian movies. It kept rushing my mind back to the days in Pakistan when every wedding would play similar songs and people would dance in the similar fashion.

The performances were followed by "Bombay House"-catered dinner. Having naan after three months; man, it was so nice. I had been craving for that taste in food for so long that I went all out on that food, to the point that I was so full that I needed to sit down for a while.

Another attractive feat at the event was the Henna booth; a true representative of the sub-continental culture. In short, henna is the application of mehendi as a temporary form of skin decoration. The artistic designs reminded of all the festivities we used to have back at home.

In conclusion, this Saturday night ... well-spent!