The letter of the day is C

Today, class, we will be focusing on the letter C, as in Confusing. Our studies will be centered around unlearning everything you already know about school. We will begin with the essay. The essay, as you all know, consists of an Introduction, a Body, and a Conclusion in five paragraphs. Well, even though this is what you have practiced since first grade, it no longer applies. You are to "stretch your abilities" to write without a rigid structure. M'kay? Also, the forbidden temple of Wikipedia is now an all-access arena. Are we all on the same page now? Good.

Ashley and I had our first cleaning check on Thursday. Growing up, I would've rather not moved around as much as we did, but by doing so, I did learn how to make a room look show-perfect. Thanks to my mother and to Fly-Lady, I can whip-clean a room in about 15 minutes using only baby wipes, tissues, and H2O.

The amount of dust that can accumulate on a storage shelf over the period of a few months is astounding. Dust, consisting of tiny skin and hair flakes, is nothing more than a collection of microscopic body parts. Sleep on that.

In Psychology 111, our professor read us an extensive list of words with definitions (that may not have clearly applied to those words) at the beginning of class. We were instructed to remember them without writing them down. I was skeptical of our abilities to do so. At the end of the class session, he read aloud the definitions of the words, and we would reply with the corresponding word. I think I got all but two correct. "Think about that over the weekend," he said. So, I did. I was reading part of our assigned chapters later that day in my room when I realized that we had effectively participated in a demonstration of "chunking". This is the memory process that allows us to remember multiple items at once by dividing them into related groups. Because of chunking, telephone numbers are easy to memorize. I couldn't believe the fact that I had read information from a book, used it in class, and connected the two applications to come to a conclusion about the subject. So... I learned in college. I'll be darned.

Had dinner at Legends Grille with my peer mentor this week. The food was not spectacular, and the "big-screen TV" aspect did not phase me; I don't watch football. But it was a good chance to think about something other than homework. Later that night, after I had met with my Dinosaurs group to finish our cladogram (dinosaur genealogy based on acquired characteristics, not lineage), I sat and talked with Liesl and her friend, Kika (a journalism major) for a good 30 minutes. Then I walked home. I felt, for the first obviously recognizable time, like an adult.

Yesterday, after the Neurology study, I went to Jamba Juice to get a smoothie and a pretzel. The time was all mine. New, slightly uncomfortable, and refreshing. The experience, not the smoothie, for those that were wondering.

At the close of this session, let us consider the words of a great philosopher: "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" I think each of us has a subconscious desire to be the one in the pineapple.