Yeah, I've quoted it before, but it's become relevant once again, this time at the college level. As I might have mentioned, I have spent a considerable amount of time dicking off this semester, be it with my roommate, my new proximal best friend, or my boyfriend, that sexy bastard. I've spent more time watching television, mocking people, driving around in the middle of the night, and making out (or some combination of the above) than I have on things like assigned readings for my classes, review of notes for my classes, paying attention in my classes, or being punctual or even present for my classes.

Relax. Don't fire up Outlook just yet. No one's failing out of anything or being flagrantly irresponsible or anything. At least, I'm not being any more irresponsible than the average (whatever that means) college student in my laziness. This is my semester to bask in the glory of mostly hellaeasy classes. Freshman Comp, 'Basic' 'Reporting,' and the Monday night section of Speech 201 aren't exactly conspiring to monopolize all my free time. Psychology and World Civ Since 1500 actually require some basic reading comprehension and note-taking skills, but not a whole lot beyond a perusal of the post-chapter review questions.

The thing with the two latter classes, however, is that they are structured in an almost identical and irritatingly semi-stressful way. Since all my classes are MWF (which is totally the way to go, undergraduates everywhere, because you get to sleep in or whatever the other four days each week), the likelihood of having multiple tests on the same day is increased. There are three tests (including the final) each in Psych and World Civ, and they are all scheduled for the same days.

Of course, the first World Civ test got moved back one class, so now they're all one day off, but it's still pretty damn close. It comes in spurts here, just like it did in high school. The thing is, I've done almost all the reading for Psych in the last two days and I've cracked open my history book to get a jump on that test as well. All in the last two days. Granted, it would be easier to keep up with the readings as we go along, but where's the fun in that? This way, I cram all my actual studying for the entire semester into about three or four weeks, freeing up the rest of the time for various fruitless and/or vaguely illegal endeavors. How sweet it is.

You've got it too easy, some say. You need to go somewhere where you'll be challenged, others say. There's been a lot of talk since I began my college career about my moving off to some foreign land (i.e. another state) to finish my education. I've batted around several top 25 cities in the United States, consulted all my references in case I need their services again, and even scoped out majors and financial aid at the biggest contenders on my list.

After some soul-searching and a good mental slap across the face, I have come to the following conclusion. Despite the fact that the place is kind of a shithole, I could see staying in University Town for the whole four years. It's not like there is a lack of challenge here. The skill I must master is facing it head-on instead of letting the complexities frustrate me into complacent and ineffectual acceptance. I want to make University Town a better place for college students to live. I want to get the most I can from my college experience by listening to and observing the people around me, even the stupid ones for whom a squirrel sighting is a major event.

My favorite English professor often reminds me to think of myself as a missionary, not as much in the biblical sense, but in more of a social, free thinking and acceptance sort of way. But it's easy when I'm living in this world to lose sight of that higher goal, to just accept the incessant racism, sexism, homophobia, ignorance, prejudice, intolerance, discontent, catatonia, status quo, and general stupidity as a part of life here, a cruel joke at which I have to chuckle heartily lest I succumb to the tears that are my knee-jerk reaction. It's also easy to forget that I have a lot to learn from these people too; this is not just a one-way street.

College University may not have a lot of money like some classy private schools I could name, but it's a case study in human experience, a free exchange of ideas. Sort of. And that � not essays and chapter assignments � is what college is ideally all about.

Someone got here by searching for: Valentine's day party tips jesus Reading: Psych chapter nine: Intelligence and Psychological Testing. Watching: Boston Common. Listening to: Ben Folds Five, instrumental only, thanks to the karaoke feature on my stereo. Eating: Fudge rounds.