My class rocks!

This week was my busiest week of the semester so far.

On Monday I spent a long time studying minerals for geology. On Tuesday we had a quiz. I thought I got all the specimens right, but when I looked at my grades I didn't get full credit. Either my descriptions for how I recognized them were inadequate, or else maybe I confused quartz and plagioclase. It was fun to test the minerals. Magnetite is magnetic. Gypsum scratches easily. Calcite fizzes with HCl. Halite tastes salty. Kaolinite sticks to your tongue. Usually I'm rather grossed out by sharing straws and spoons and the like, but for some reason I wasn't so uncomfortable licking minerals that countless other students have also licked and handled. I ended up licking more than just the halite and the kaolinite, because I tested some other minerals to see whether or not they were the halite. I handed in my quiz and then second guessed myself. I put one mineral as halite simply because it was the only one left, but then I realized it wasn't salty, so one of the ones had been mislabeled. The TA gave me back my quiz and I was able to identify the real halite (by licking it, of course).

After the quiz we looked at igneous rocks. These don't involve any licking. I hardly got to study them this week because whenever I went to the lab/classroom, someone was in there. I went yesterday (Saturday) thinking that surely no one would be there. I was right about that, but no one was in there because it was locked. I'm going to have to study them a lot tomorrow. Fortunately, I think the igneous rocks will be easier than the minerals. I think I already know how to identify pumice, obsidian, granite, tuff, peridotite, and maybe rhyolite, and that's half of the rocks we have to know.

On Wednesday night I had to write a short paper for my D&C class. We had to spend five hours studying a topic and then write a one-page, double-spaced paper on it. Mine was choppy so I'll have to refine it today and tomorrow. My topic was love for mankind/charity, since I struggle with that. I'm pretty good at keeping most of the commandments, except for that one. Paul said if you have not charity, you are nothing. I guess I'm almost nothing.

This week I also had to worry about not one but two tests, one for geology and one for editing. I haven't taken the editing one yet (I have until Wednesday) because I spent most of the time studying for geology. I have found that for me the best way to study is to fill out a Google doc. Whoever creates it (usually me, anymore) emails everyone in the class and invites them. Then we can all go into the document and add information. It helps me study as I look over the material to add, and I don't feel like it's a waste of my time because I'm doing it for other people. I'm glad I did it because there was a lot on the test that I knew only because I put it on the Google doc. I went to the testing center and the line was long, which I didn't expect. It was the longest I've personally ever seen it. I got 92% on the test. Since I'm not a science major and the professor said that you'd be in good shape if you got 80%, I'm satisfied with that score.

On Friday night my parents and Allie came down and took me to dinner. That night I was able to go running. It was the only night I got to go running all week, since I've had so much homework. But I meant to run 48 minutes and I ended up running 51, so I'm glad that my one run was one when I got to increase the time. My running has seriously suffered this semester. (And when I say it's suffered, I mean it's not as much as I would like it to be, but it's better than it was when I was working all day in November and December.)

I have to do a content edit (which I don't know how to do!) on an article for the student journal I'm on. I wasn't able to do any work for the journal at all this past week, and I hope I'll have time to this week. I hope I don't get too far behind in my hours.

This week I also discovered that I never got paid for my last three days of work. I had told my supervisor, "It's not official, but it's very likely my last day will be December 23rd," but then later told him, "You know how I said my last day would be December 23rd? It'll actually be the 29th." But somehow HR had my last day as the 23rd, even though I worked December 27, 28, and 29. I was able to call and get that fixed so a check should be arriving soon.

I hope I have time to do everything this week!