And so it begins...

Tomorrow! The day I've been waiting for since March and the heartbreaking one point loss to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA. You know what it is...AGGIE BASKETBALL STARTS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow is the Blue and White Scrimmage game and then Fridays is our first game (exhibition) against the Northwest Nazarene (who are apparently from Nampa, Idaho...never heard of them). Oh my. I am sooo excited for this year! I know I've already mentioned it but I get front row this year! FRONT ROW! Not only has it taken us two years to work our way up to the front, but girls are never, ever allowed to sit on the front row. Well we'll show them. We've totally earned our spots and it's the best seat in the house!

Let's talk a little bit about facts regarding Aggie Men's Basketball. This is the program's 105th season! For the past 39 years, Utah State has called the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum home and has won 81 percent of its games in the building with an impressive 453-105 (.812) record, including a 159-12 (.930) mark under head coach Stew Morrill. Utah State is currently picked by both the Coach's Poll and the Media Poll to win the WAC Championship again. It's gonna be a fantastic season for the Aggies!!!

p.s. when I get home (because I'm currently at work) I'll put up some pics to go along with this post. because I should start doing that more. everyone likes to look at pictures!

Basketball and Cadavers...not together

Not counting today (since there are only two hours left of today), there are 9 days til Basketball season starts again!!!! That's single digits people! WOOT! In case you didn't notice, I am sooo excited! As I'm sure I already mentioned, I get front row starting this year, so the games are going to be better than ever. One game that I am particularly excited for is the BYU game. We are going to eat them alive! Why you ask? Besides the obvious reason that, well, it's BYU. What's not to hate? Last year, they refused to play us up here in Logan because we are an "unwholesome environment" for their poor players. Boo freakin hoo! So we played them on a "neutral" court in Salt Lake at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was ridiculous. So now that we have them back in our territory, they are going to get the butt kicking they deserve. The only thing I dislike about this year (besides that MVP Gary Wilkinson will be sorely missed!) is that the WAC Tournament does not fall on our Spring Break as it did last year. So I can't go. It's soo sad!

So this semester, I am taking Human Anatomy. Yes, again. But I am happy to report that I am doing much better and am loving the class!!! So as part of the class, I have to take a cadaver lab. As this is not my first cadaver lab, I was actually able to adjust to it pretty easily. A huge relief since the first time I ever had a cadaver lab, I went home determined to drop the class, change my major and find a new purpose in life. Now, the cadaver lab in Brigham City, where I take my class, is a little more intense than the one in Logan. We are required to wear aprons, goggles, and gloves at all times (sickeningly enough, not a requirement in the Logan one) and they are much more comfortable moving the bodies around. The last part scares me a little sometimes. haha Since we're not allowed to take pictures with the actual bodies (or technically in the labs at all) I just got a picture of my roommate Morgan and me all ready to play...I mean learn! Note: we are wearing sweaters because the lab actually gets kinda chilly. And I am not that chubby. The sweater under the apron just gives that appearance. Also! If you look closely in the bottom left corner, you will see a bucket with intestines in it. Yum! not.

Reach My Goal!

Ok, so goals are something that I usually have a hard time sticking to. Goals to work out more - never happen unless I sign up for a class that makes me be there. New Years Resolutions - don't believe in them. Eat healthier - occasionally...I am doing a lot better on that than I did my Freshman year. That was a health train wreck. But this semester I made the goal to get a 4.0. When I first came to college my GPA took a hit thanks mostly to one lovely class that I am now having the pleasure of taking for the third time (count 'em...1.2.3!) among a couple others that I could have done a lot better in had I put in the time and effort the classes required. Basically, I've been lazy. But not anymore! No sir!!! This is not me! This is not the Alyssa that cried in the 9th grade when she received her first A-. This is not the Alyssa that got over the A- and learned to accept even a B+ or two on her report card but still expected high performance and did hours of homework every day after school. And this is most certainly not the Alyssa that graduated from high school with a 3.9 GPA and got the honor of Cum Laude, graduating in the top 8% of her class. No no no! I was tired of not having it together and I was tired of feeling discouraged and frustrated every time I looked at my GPA and feeling like graduate school was becoming more and more unobtainable. I am incredibly pleased to report that so far, I have kept up with my goal! I currently have 90% or high in every class and am hoping to be able to keep it up for the rest of the semester. Midterms are going on right now, so it's very promising. I figure if I can do it for one half, I can do it for the other half of the semester. I am going to get a 4.0, I am going to watch my GPA jump to heights it hasn't seen since high school and I am going to go back to being a confident student who likes her grades and knows that she can be a competitive applicant to almost any graduate schools she chooses. That is the goal! and gosh darn it I am going to reach it!!!

60 emails+4.5 hours= Tired Alyssa

I have just now completed sending out around 60 individual emails to my Connections students. My brain is fried, I feel like a fake (because I pretty much said the same thing to each one. I really do care though!) and I'm just glad it's over. This is one of the only things I dread about doing A-Team. It's fun when they write you back but the process of writing the emails is kinda long. It took around 4 1/2 hours to complete. Wow. Hopefully most of them will write me back. Hopefully...haha