Life Plost: The Penultimate Semester Begins

Today was the start of my penultimate semester of college, and that fact is hitting me hard today. There have been several times where I was walking across campus (and freezing) where I couldn't stop thinking about how this is the last semester I'd do this on a daily basis. (Next semester is student teaching for me, so all my time during the typical school day will be spent at a school.) I can't believe I've reached this point.

So far this semester seems like it will be significantly lighter than the last few too. I'm finishing up the last thirteen credit hours that I need aside from student teaching, and that's the fewest credit hours I've ever taken in college. In addition to that, one's an online course (and 100 level) that doesn't feel like it will be that stressful as long as I don't forget to do things.

I've never taken an online class before. My school doesn't have them. The one I'm taking now is through Ivy Tech (but there's special program between our schools that allows the credit to show up as if it came from my school instead of a transfer credit on my transcript). I wasn't sure what to expect, so one of the first things I did this morning was log on and check everything out. Ivy Tech uses a different course management system than my school (Blackboard instead of Canvas), so I was a bit worried about messing up with it. Canvas was difficult to get used to at first. So far it all seems to be straightforward though.

At the same time, I went through and copied the entire schedule into my planner. Now, I plan a lot, but never a full semester in advance. I'm trying that this year because the last two semesters almost killed me. (That's not me exaggerating by the way.) It feels a little over the top since this semester is almost guaranteed to be easier, but I'm doing it anyway.

My first in-person class was also today. It's adolescent psychology, and it went well. I find psychology fascinating, and I'm going to be working with teenagers (obviously). I think it's going to be a pretty great class. (And I already have it all scheduled out in my planner too.)

The only thing I can complain about today is how cold it is. We would have the first significant snow of the season a day before classes started. Crossing campus is miserable. I've had to go through the long process of completely bundling myself up far too many times just today. Luckily, I think it's supposed to get warmer later in the week (above freezing that is). That's after we get through tomorrow which is supposed to be strong winds and even colder temperatures. The greatest combination in the world. (Fingers crossed there's no snow on top of that.)