I'm fairly sure my brain is rebelling

We have a midterm today. A big, scary, no-one-knows-what-to-expect midterm. I've been studying for three days...my brain has actually stopped absorbing information. So...blogpost!

I have to distract myself for a little while in order to restart my brain. I'm finding it to be more and more difficult to study the closer May gets. I make myself do it, but it's almost like nothing it sticking. It's frustrating. I just have so much to do that my limited mental capacity is overwhelmed and my normally receptive brain becomes a stubborn two year old shouting "Nu-uh! No! No more studying!" *sigh*

I mean, not only do I need to study for midterms, keep up in class (which is WAY harder this semester than it has been...we have SO MUCH TO DO), apply for jobs, keep up with jobs I've applied for but that aren't panning out OR rejecting me (frustrating, BTW), and go to work, I also have all the normal stuff like taking care of the puppy and cleaning the house and being social and grocery shopping and showering and occasionally eating and sleeping and...*system failure*

I need a break - not because I need to rest, but because I need time to actually do stuff for me, not for other people. I need work and school and life to leave me alone for a few days and let me catch up on being a normal, functioning adult. I feel like I'm constantly sitting on the verge of a panic attack, and it's not conducive to, you know, being productive and what not.

So, maybe writing a blogpost wasn't the best plan...now I feel MORE stressed. Great. Exam in an hour and my brain is still whirling around in a spinning rainbow of death and I can't find the force-quit button...

...gonna go get more coffee and google "cute baby animals"...

UPDATE: that was terrible


[remainder of update not included due to the fact that I'm too upset to write an acceptable post explaining why it was terrible - trust me, you wouldn't want to read it]


Is it graduation yet?

How am I busier on the weekends than I am during the week?

No really, how? It amazes me what I can get myself into...

Friday we spent all day at school in a professional development course on Access. I've used it before, but I don't work with it on a normal basis, so some additional foundation was helpful. This particular class was just the "beginner" level - we'll move on to "intermediate" next month. That's when it really starts to become useful. It wasn't a bad class, though, I did learn a few new things that I can put into practice at work. It did, however, make for a long day. That evening I did some prep for the insanity that I knew would be Saturday, and that prep work on top of spending an evening playing catch-up with several friends resulted in minimal sleep. That was probably not the best plan.

I got up at 5 am (no I'm not kidding) on Saturday morning. I needed to finish a few things up at home before heading to campus. If I haven't mentioned it before, I act as an advisor for an on campus student organization that focuses on community service. They work closely with the scouting community, and on Saturday, they hosted a HUGE event (with over 900 scouts in attendance). The scouts come to campus for a day and take merit badge classes - it's a super fun event for them...and a super stressful event for us. The group has been planning the details for about a year now (they start on next year's event next week). I showed up to help with the morning activities and spent the hours between 6 and 10 resolving several minor (and a few major) crises.

I then drove out to Rogers to attend a memorial service - not the happiest way to spend a Saturday, but when you love someone, you're there for them through happy AND sad, right? It was a nice, quite service, and we actually ended up smiling and laughing a good deal more than one would expect at such an event.

Immediately after that was over, I drove back to Fayetteville, stopped at Party City to pick up balloons and then Rick's Bakery for an order of petit fours, then headed home to straighten the house and get everything ready for the baby shower I was hosting at 2pm - the theme? The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Cute, right?

Thanks to some help from my incredible roommate and another friend, we had everything set up and ready by the time the mom-to-be arrived (thank goodness!). The shower went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The highlight was definitely the beautiful goodies by Rick's (they always do a fantastic job).

I spent the rest of the afternoon with my roommate - alternately watching a movie, cleaning up, and pretending to study for the Strategy midterm we have coming up. Sunday was mostly devoted to ACTUALLY studying, with a few meetings thrown in for good measure. I felt quite productive, despite the fact that I STILL haven't done the pile of laundry I've been saying I'll do for about a week now...hmm...

Anyway, this week should be interesting. We've had three classes "cancelled" in leiu of other activities - Finance is cancelled all week because we have a three hour meeting tonight and we don't have Retail on Wednesday so that we can have time on our own to work on our midterm. Then, on Thursday, we have the scary Strategy midterm (eeek/sigh)...

How is it midterm time already? Have we had enough class to justify that? The snow really messed with my schedule. Time is just flying - Spring Break is in two weeks and then we only have six weeks of classes left! Graduation will be here before we know it...if I can pass that Strat midterm, that is...blerg. I'll let you know how it goes. 'Til then!

One for One

Last Thursday morning I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Blake Mycoskie at John Brown University. If you aren't familiar with Blake, you're probably at least familiar with his company - Toms Shoes.

I love Toms - they make me super happy. And I love the business model - every time someone buys a pair of shoes, a pair is given to a child in need. It's brilliant. Who'd have thought that giving something away every time you sell something would make for a profitable business? Good job, Blake!

His talk focused on why he'd incorporated giving into his business model in the first place. As it turns out, the giving was the original concept. He'd been down in Argentina and seen how much the village kids there needed shoes. He decided he wanted to help, but rather than rely on charity work, he wanted to find a way to make it a business - and Toms was born.

He wrapped up by saying that giving back doesn't just feel good, but that it can be a great thing for your business and your own personal brand. He mentioned three ways in which incorporating giving into your life and business is a good thing.

First, when you give back, your customers become your marketers. They do all of the advertising for you - there's a passion there that customers want to share with everyone. They believe in the cause and they become involved.

Next, a company that gives back attracts dedicated, passionate employees. Everyone wants to be a part of something. People want to work at companies that are doing good things, giving back. People want purpose, something to be proud of. A company that gives back provides that.

Finally, when you incorporate giving into your model, other people want to help you, because helping you succeed means helping you give more. As such a tiny start-up, Toms would not have become who they are today without the help of some really big names - Vogue, Ralph Lauren, etc. Those names believed in what Blake was doing and they wanted to help him succeed.

He was a fantastic speaker, I'm really glad I got the chance to hear him talk about the company. He brought even more passion to an already enchanting company.

The rest of the week/weekend was spent in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My little brother turned twenty-one, so we all drove out to help celebrate. Our Christmas was a bit punctuated this year, what with work schedules and my India trip, so getting to spend several days as a family was nice.

Now it's March and time is speeding by much faster than I can process. We've picked up graduation regalia and midterms are already upon us! Eeek! Someone slow this down!

I did get a bit of a break tonight - the Vienna Boys Choir was at the Walton Arts Center, and so I treated myself to a night out. It was lovely. Now I must go organize my thoughts and to-do list so that I don't get even further behind. Happy March, everyone!