Droopy picture update

These action photos were taken today when Droopy ran into Queenie outside. They played around for at least 15 minutes and wore themselves out. Droopy is, of course, my pug, and Queenie is a brown chihuahua who lives next door. She is a very intelligent and agile dog.

Getting sleepy....

...fast asleep here with his eyes crossed and open, tongue sticking out, and twitching. How cute! :D

Spanish Final

Just got done taking my Spanish final. I hope it went ok, it was over posguerra authors and Garcia Lorca from the generation of '27, more specifically his play "Bodas de Sangre", and also "Nada", a novel by Carmen Laforet. The other posguerra authors only had excerpts from their novels, so that part wasn't bad.
The final consisted of an essay, identifications, multiple choice, then true/false. I think I did fine on my essay and identifications. I might have missed a few of the multiple choice and maybe of the true/false also.
It was a difficult exam, but I knew the material well. I most enjoyed reading the works of the postwar authors as well as "Nada". ( Which is also a postwar novel, but this novel we read entirely, instead of reading excerpts).

This week has been very busy. On Monday I had an English research paper due and also my Physics test. Tomorrow I have more physics homework due, but aside from that I don't have anything that I must do by tomorrow.

My research is postponed until Fall semester due to the end of this semester ending, and everyone is very busy.

I have a mandatory meeting to go to tomorrow about the application process for medical school. These meeting always seem like they will be very informative but I usually leave more confused than I was when I walked in.

The Sneezing Baby Panda

Funny and cute.

What's in a name?

I'm working on a research paper for English about the repercussions of having an ethnic or unique name in America. This topic is interesting to me, as I am applying to medical school this summer, and I want to know if my name will be a positive aspect or negative. In one way, it should be positive since my name reflects my ethnic background, and being so the entrance personnel might see that as an opportunity to expand the diversity on campus, for example. But, I'm not only focusing on names affecting scholarships/ entry into schools, but also how it affects people on an every day basis, as well as in the judiciary system, and job opportunities/place of work.

I think it's an interesting topic, especially in America, since there is large spectrum of different kinds of ethnicities and races, reflected in the names. In addition to the diversity in America, Americans also tend to be very creative, and there are many new names that are the parents' creation. These unique names may also present a challenge to those individuals.

I'm finding lots of information, and not surprisingly, most of my sources so far point to discrimination, and even unconscious bias. A statistic I found stated (more or less) that individuals with white-sounding names had 40% more of a chance getting a call back based on their resume than individuals with identical resumes but with African American names.

Some of the articles that I've read suggest just using your first initial on your resume if you have a difficult to pronounce first name. This way, the HR person would have to call the individual, and at that point the individual can introduce him/herself, eliminating potential embarrassment or discomfort on the behalf of the HR person.

Cleaning up after my roommate

So, my apartment roomie is someone that was selected randomly for me, and she is a pretty bad match for me. I really don't have any issues with her other than the fact that she is very dirty. This wouldn't be a problem if we didn't share any common space, but we do (bathroom, kitchen, living room, hallway, staircase, etc etc). The kitchen is pretty much ok, but it bothers me when people use my silverware or pots and then neglect to clean what they used for more than a week! (sometime 2 or 3 weeks) I don't mind sharing my things, but I just get upset when I want to use these items, and they are dirty. All in all, it is tolerable, and eventually whoever is using my plates and silverware cleans the items she used.

The bathroom, on the other hand, is a different story. I never knew someone could be so dirty and slobbish. To this date, she has not cleaned the bathroom once. Not even once! I've cleaned it every time. I've had to scrub the tub due to some sort of epoxy she left to harden on the bottom, I have to dig hair from the sink that is clogged due to her toothpaste( I know it's hers because she uses a bright orange/red toothpaste), I sweep and mop the floors, clean the toilet (never had to clean a toilet so disgusting), well... pretty much everything. Anyway, it wouldn't even bother me that much to put all this work in if she actually respected all the cleaning that I have done for us. But instead, she will do her best to dirty it as fast as possible.

I'm saying all of this because I just got done doing a thorough cleaning of our shared bathroom, my bedroom, and the staircase. It's frustrating that in order to get my space clean, I have to clean her space too.

Oh, and also no "thank you" or anything. I am not a cleaning lady!

Building up your resume

Is it just me who thinks resumes are just a bunch of crap? It doesn't really show who you are, as most people feel forced to pad their resume, or forced to join clubs or organizations to show how much of a giving, social person you are. So, we are just writing what the employer, or recruiter, or admissions office personnel want to read, who they want us to be. But the truth is there are very few people who join all of those activities for fun or because they have a genuine interest in it. They just want to seem like they are a well rounded person, when in fact they're not. Most people are not well rounded.

So I've sent in my application to become an ELC tutor next semester. Didn't really put much effort into the application, but my credentials look acceptable/good, so perhaps I will make the cut. It would look good on my resume. Ha-ha.

Hate my schedule for next semester.

I don't like how my schedule is looking for Fall semester ('10). I don't think I'll be able to graduate by next year either, considering I need 40 hours in Biology for a Biology major and at this point I have 13 out of 14 hours for the Biology Core requirement, but only 5 out of 26 hours for the "Elective Biology" hours. We're forced to take so much gen ed. Freshmen and Sophomore years that it becomes very difficult to make up for lost time Junior and Senior years. Luckily, I have all of my college requirements out of the way, as well as the other non-biology requirements for Medical School...(English, Math, Fine Arts, et cetera).

I just got done signing up for my classes, and at this point I have signed up for 17 hours, but I am probably going to decide to drop one of the classes (before the semester starts) but I just wanted to make sure to sign up and save a spot in the classroom before the classes fill up, and I would be left with no choice.

I am taking next semester: Ecology I, Evolutionary Biology, Biostatistics, Terminology for Health Professions, Spanish Civilization, and Spanish American literature.

I am still considering which one to drop. They will all be difficult... even the Spanish courses due to reading for the literature class, and studying for the civilization class. (I know the professor, and her tests are difficult).

Good news is that after those two Spanish classes, I will have completed my Spanish major.

Don't really know what to do about my schedule right now. I'm going to have to see if there are any easy(ier) courses that I can take instead of one of the harder courses.