Yep! The title says it all. I have now completed my fourth semester at SimpsonU. No more teachers, no more text books, and no more tests for three entire weeks.

It’s time to put the ‘look a lot like Christmas’ in Christmas around this house.  For the past couple of weeks, I have started to decorate for Christmas but at each attempt I have had to pull myself back and get back to books. Consequently, the decor around this place is schizophrenic and chaotic.

The tree is up with about one-half the usual ornaments. It’s a start! I typically like to go all-out with the decor, but this year I have decided to tone it down and spend my time on things that really matter: the presents! Just kidding.

I am looking forward to having company for dinner and for the gift exchange on Christmas Eve. Students typically feel isolated from family during the semester, and I have definitely felt isolated and disconnected from my family – more so this semester than previous semesters combined.

It’s time to reconnect with some very important people. And so, Fall Semester 2015, you can kiss my shiny, white, hiney good-bye!

 

 

 

As I write this final blog for my class assignment, I am reflecting on previous blogs.  As a perfectionist, this has been a difficult concept to process– my writing is less than perfect!  Where did this drive come from? Is it a neurosis? Do I find a sense of value in turning in perfect work? If so, I am on a hamster wheel that will lead me absolutely nowhere. Shocking isn’t it? The only thing it will get me is feeling frustrated, exhausted, and exasperated. This strive for perfection is not conducive to learning.

If I were the perfect writer, I wouldn’t need to go to school, now would I?  I actually enjoy school. I don’t enjoy the pressure of deadlines, or tests, of course. No student truly does. If it were not for the structure of classes and the accountability to professors, where would I be? It’s a safe bet to say that I wouldn’t writing this right now, right here.

Here is something I have learned about myself: I need structure in my life. I need to be accountable to someone, other than myself.  Some people are highly self-disciplined. I am not.

Why do I care about presenting a perfect self to the world? I don’t know. Perhaps I have just discovered the next neurosis to breakdown in my next round of the 21-Day Brain Detox sessions.

While I may not need to post weekly on assignment, I plan on posting and maintaining this site as regularly as possible. And so, until we “meet” again –thanks for reading!