Alright, so I hope that title got you intrigued... but there has definitely been a lot of things going on in my life since I last posted on here! To start off with, we'll go back to a time where I was more productive......... or not, as that's probably going to involve going back quite a while. Anyway, it's been a super crazy spot of time since I last posted on here, with my calendar dripping in red.
To start off with, the day after I posted on here - which would be Thursday the 21st - I begrudgingly attended an "Academic" banquet. It was pretty much only begrudgingly because of the fact that my academics weren't good enough (I only know a few people who actually did that well in school last semester... I heard it was something around a 3.9 gpa to get invited), but because of the fact that I'm in RHA and therefore was required to go. After I got there I had a pretty decent time, I sat with some pretty swell folks, had a reasonably pleasant dinner, and ended up getting two awards! I got a "Bronze Pin Award of Excellence", which was described as follows on the certificate (and at the banquet): "The bronze pin award is given to a limited number of individuals who have made a lasting impact on BYU's Residence Life. This pin is the highest honor awarded on the campus level of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, Incorporated." So that was pretty sweet to get, in addition to my award/pin for being inducted as a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary.
So after that swell day, Friday was pretty exciting - I started my journey of watching the Lord of the Rings series for the first time, extended edition style :) Then Saturday was quite eventful, as I went through the temple on Saturday morning to take out my endowments - coolest thing ever. Then Saturday afternoon I got to play dodgeball with some guys in my building. Then Sunday I was able to teach Sunday School again, and I think it was my best class to date - you'd have to ask the folks in my class about that though. Ward choir was a blast, and I was able to go home teaching that night!
Monday wasn't all that eventful, pretty much only went to work... but then I was actually productive on Tuesday! Unusual right? Well yeah. I kinda sorta ended up on international television for a good portion of our three-four minute choir piece during the BYU devotional. If you wanna check it out visit this a here Link! You probably want to skip to around 9 minutes into it (9:15 if you want to be right when we start), as there's an excessive amount of pre-devotional junk on there. Other than that... Tuesday was just a regular day, with work and classes never ceasing.
Well... that's actually all I feel like writing for this post...
So...
'Til Next Time,
Jordan Nielson
Friday, March 29, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Weeks It Has Been?
It has definitely been a heck of a month. That's all. But seriously. That's all I'm going to write for this post.
But really it isn't, because that would just be a waste of time for all parties involved. Instead I'm going to make you figure out how to read this post. I would give you a hint, but to read it you would have already figured it out. Anyway, as I said previously it's been an interesting couple weeks since I last posted on here. There have been a myriad of events that have influenced how my days have gone, with one of the largest influences being my emotions - probably not a good thing while in school. My emotions have been all over the place lately... and to read more about that you'd have to hack into my journal - which wouldn't be very nice. I'm down to 57 days until I enter the Missionary Training Center to head to Oklahoma, which is really not that many. If all goes according to plan I'll be able to go through the temple for the first time this Saturday, and hopefully will go a ton before I enter the MTC. I'm also hoping to be able to be home for about two weeks before I leave, which should give me enough time to catch up with all the people I miss from back there. But back to why this has been an interesting length of time. For one, I've had a test or large assignment in pretty much all of my classes since I last wrote on here - which isn't all that fun. Additionally, the realizations have slowly been hitting me in larger measures each day regarding recent events that have made it really hard to just make it through the day. My roommate expressed it a lot better than I can in his post on his blog! You should go check it out, because I've been dealing with a lot of those same things, not really to the same extent, but it has definitely gotten a lot worse as time has passed by and things have been ratcheting back up to speed.
Another thing that has made this a crazy couple weeks has been work. It's usually pretty peaceful, and occasionally I'm even able to get stuff done (like tonight - got a few homework assignments done and found time to write on here!). But then there are the majority of the days where there are just constantly people in here for various reasons and I'm not able to hear myself think with all the things going on around me. Those nights are usually the ones where I had been having a bad day at classes anyway, and that compounded with working (and therefore staying up lateish) will often lead to me missing classes the next day - a very vicious cycle to be in. I'm working to try and break the cycle and get to class more often, but as some of my classmates can attest I'm not having all that successful a time with it (if you have any tips about motivation to get to class please lemme know somehow!).
On another note, I recently wrote another comfort zone assignment, and this one I think I'm actually comfortable sharing (though it isn't as far in my comfort zone as I'd like it to be). So, check it out here: LINK (there's also a link at the top of my blog if you wanna find it later).
In other news, I changed the color scheme on my blog again. More St. Patrick's Day feely now, even though that just passed. Oh well. Guess that's what happens when you don't blog for a while. I recently started reading a book called "Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World that Can't Stop Talking", and it's pretty good so far. The author has a ton of insights and such regarding the topic (which is introversion for those who couldn't guess that), and I feel like I'm learning a lot. It has definitely been too long since I've had a book I really enjoyed, and I've realized how much I miss sitting down and just reading for hours at a time. It's actually quite peaceful, which is nice in the rush of everything going on.
Anyway, if you scrolled all the way down here and didn't catch the drift, you have to highlight the text to read it :P Oh, and if you want to see it on a mobile device that doesn't show text when you highlight it... I think you'll have to wait and use a computer or copy it into a document of some sorts and try to read it there.
'Til Next Time,
Jordan Nielson
But really it isn't, because that would just be a waste of time for all parties involved. Instead I'm going to make you figure out how to read this post. I would give you a hint, but to read it you would have already figured it out. Anyway, as I said previously it's been an interesting couple weeks since I last posted on here. There have been a myriad of events that have influenced how my days have gone, with one of the largest influences being my emotions - probably not a good thing while in school. My emotions have been all over the place lately... and to read more about that you'd have to hack into my journal - which wouldn't be very nice. I'm down to 57 days until I enter the Missionary Training Center to head to Oklahoma, which is really not that many. If all goes according to plan I'll be able to go through the temple for the first time this Saturday, and hopefully will go a ton before I enter the MTC. I'm also hoping to be able to be home for about two weeks before I leave, which should give me enough time to catch up with all the people I miss from back there. But back to why this has been an interesting length of time. For one, I've had a test or large assignment in pretty much all of my classes since I last wrote on here - which isn't all that fun. Additionally, the realizations have slowly been hitting me in larger measures each day regarding recent events that have made it really hard to just make it through the day. My roommate expressed it a lot better than I can in his post on his blog! You should go check it out, because I've been dealing with a lot of those same things, not really to the same extent, but it has definitely gotten a lot worse as time has passed by and things have been ratcheting back up to speed.
Another thing that has made this a crazy couple weeks has been work. It's usually pretty peaceful, and occasionally I'm even able to get stuff done (like tonight - got a few homework assignments done and found time to write on here!). But then there are the majority of the days where there are just constantly people in here for various reasons and I'm not able to hear myself think with all the things going on around me. Those nights are usually the ones where I had been having a bad day at classes anyway, and that compounded with working (and therefore staying up lateish) will often lead to me missing classes the next day - a very vicious cycle to be in. I'm working to try and break the cycle and get to class more often, but as some of my classmates can attest I'm not having all that successful a time with it (if you have any tips about motivation to get to class please lemme know somehow!).
On another note, I recently wrote another comfort zone assignment, and this one I think I'm actually comfortable sharing (though it isn't as far in my comfort zone as I'd like it to be). So, check it out here: LINK (there's also a link at the top of my blog if you wanna find it later).
In other news, I changed the color scheme on my blog again. More St. Patrick's Day feely now, even though that just passed. Oh well. Guess that's what happens when you don't blog for a while. I recently started reading a book called "Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World that Can't Stop Talking", and it's pretty good so far. The author has a ton of insights and such regarding the topic (which is introversion for those who couldn't guess that), and I feel like I'm learning a lot. It has definitely been too long since I've had a book I really enjoyed, and I've realized how much I miss sitting down and just reading for hours at a time. It's actually quite peaceful, which is nice in the rush of everything going on.
Anyway, if you scrolled all the way down here and didn't catch the drift, you have to highlight the text to read it :P Oh, and if you want to see it on a mobile device that doesn't show text when you highlight it... I think you'll have to wait and use a computer or copy it into a document of some sorts and try to read it there.
'Til Next Time,
Jordan Nielson
Monday, March 4, 2013
Music, Sleep, and Productivity = School?
Alright... so my last post was pretty brief compared to a lot of my other ones, and that's largely because I've taken to writing a journal. I actually kinda like it - compared to whenever I used to try and do it and hated it, because like most guys I hate talking or writing my feelings anywhere - as it's a good outlet for stress. Now though, tennis class is starting up and hopefully that'll be the main outlet and my journal can actually become about my feelings instead of all the things that stress me out or stuff I need to work out with myself. Anyway. My post today has three major themes - Music, Sleep and Productivity - which all seem to be determining factors of how I'm doing in school.
Foremost is Music. I don't know about you, but to me Music is a huge indicator of my mood, and has a large influence on how my days go. Almost any day that I go to choir and sing will usually be a great day for me, while the days I don't have choir I usually find it hard to drag myself out of bed and get motivated to go to class in the freezing weather. I've also discovered though, that the music I sing or listen to has an impact on my mood as well. For example, right now I'm switching between Disney and Church music as I work on homework at three am. It's doing a pretty good job of keeping me awake, because I know most of the songs well enough to start singing if I get tired. In addition to that, it's helping keep me focused precisely because I know the songs well enough that I'm not intrigued by the lyrics or music to pay more attention to them than what I'm working on. On a slightly random Music note though - in the CES Devotional that Elder Bendar gave yesterday, the choir there sang alone on the last two verses of "How Firm a Foundation" which reminded me of the song that we're performing as a ward choir soon titled "Fear Not". It was written by the Jordan High School Seminary Faculty and a recording of it can be found here:
Recording!
It's quickly becoming my favorite song I've ever been able to sing in a ward choir - largely because of how uplifting and motivational it is. So seriously. Click the link and listen to it while you read the rest of this lengthy blog post.
My next topic revolves around something I've been having issues with recently - Sleep. As a college kid I've discovered how important sleep is, but I've also discovered how easy it is to not get enough sleep. For example, tonight I'm still awake and it's about four am. Why? Because I was actually feeling productive, which is far more rare than me feeling tired. So, my thoughts about sleep are as follows:
And somehow or other, this all impacts school right? Well of course. School is kinda sorta my life - at least for the next seventy-two days!
On another random note, I'd like to throw in a plug for one of my mission prep teacher's books - The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox (Deseret book link!). He assigned us to read a chapter every week from it, and I think that is the thing I look forward to most each week as Sunday rolls around. It's a super awesome book, and it's really uplifting and enlightening. So if you get a chance, make sure to check it out and perhaps even read it!
Well, looking at my calendar this week is going to a heck of a week if everything goes according to plan. So, if I'm still alive come the eleventh of the month of so, be glad. For just a brief glimpse into the craziness of this week:
Foremost is Music. I don't know about you, but to me Music is a huge indicator of my mood, and has a large influence on how my days go. Almost any day that I go to choir and sing will usually be a great day for me, while the days I don't have choir I usually find it hard to drag myself out of bed and get motivated to go to class in the freezing weather. I've also discovered though, that the music I sing or listen to has an impact on my mood as well. For example, right now I'm switching between Disney and Church music as I work on homework at three am. It's doing a pretty good job of keeping me awake, because I know most of the songs well enough to start singing if I get tired. In addition to that, it's helping keep me focused precisely because I know the songs well enough that I'm not intrigued by the lyrics or music to pay more attention to them than what I'm working on. On a slightly random Music note though - in the CES Devotional that Elder Bendar gave yesterday, the choir there sang alone on the last two verses of "How Firm a Foundation" which reminded me of the song that we're performing as a ward choir soon titled "Fear Not". It was written by the Jordan High School Seminary Faculty and a recording of it can be found here:
Recording!
It's quickly becoming my favorite song I've ever been able to sing in a ward choir - largely because of how uplifting and motivational it is. So seriously. Click the link and listen to it while you read the rest of this lengthy blog post.
My next topic revolves around something I've been having issues with recently - Sleep. As a college kid I've discovered how important sleep is, but I've also discovered how easy it is to not get enough sleep. For example, tonight I'm still awake and it's about four am. Why? Because I was actually feeling productive, which is far more rare than me feeling tired. So, my thoughts about sleep are as follows:
- It's really important - unless something more important comes up
- I really, really, really like my sleep - so if I'm sleeping, don't bother me unless I asked you to previously
- I don't sleep nearly as much as I used to for a variety of reasons
- It takes me forever to fall asleep - like an average of an hour - which is really annoying because I'm usually thinking about things during that hour which doesn't help me get to sleep
- I think too much
- Nothing really good usually happens after midnight, so it's almost always my goal to get to sleep shortly thereafter
- Contrary to my Chem Professor's belief, it is pretty common for me to lose sleep thinking about things related to school work
- In contrast with that, it's slightly more common for me to stay up late thinking about things like girls, music, or church stuff
So those are my main thoughts on sleeping... which somehow leads me to writing about productivity?
I'm still not entirely sure how these things are related... but there is definitely a connection somewhere. It usually involves a mystical perfect amount of sleep where you wake up refreshed, not tired, and ready to be productive. That hasn't happened to me yet since I got to college, but it's something to strive for - which leads me to change how much sleep I get on a regular basis to try and find what works for me. I've discovered how easy it is to get too much sleep and waste away most of the day, but I've also discovered the affect no/little sleep has on my days. Usually, both of those are negative impacts but occasionally I get like no sleep and it becomes a good thing because I actually got stuff done staying up late that I wouldn't have gotten done otherwise. On a random note, I've discovered that facebook doesn't change much at all during the period from about 2am until noon, when people are up and posting stuff again. Anyway, at building meeting last night we talked about ways to improve our time management - which pretty much always seems to be a good thing to talk about and remind people of. We discussed ways to motivate yourself, and I can't seem to figure out a good one that doesn't have much of any negative consequences. My first thought was to reward myself with like Candy or Ice Cream after accomplishing some amount of homework, but the downside to that is I'll end up eating tons of candy. I'm starting to lean towards using baking as a reward... but nobody got time fo dat. Seriously though, if I were to reward myself with baking it'd have to be in like increments of an hour or two, which is a lot of time to take a break from studying for a reward. So if you have suggestions on that, I'd gladly welcome as many as possible!
And somehow or other, this all impacts school right? Well of course. School is kinda sorta my life - at least for the next seventy-two days!
On another random note, I'd like to throw in a plug for one of my mission prep teacher's books - The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox (Deseret book link!). He assigned us to read a chapter every week from it, and I think that is the thing I look forward to most each week as Sunday rolls around. It's a super awesome book, and it's really uplifting and enlightening. So if you get a chance, make sure to check it out and perhaps even read it!
Well, looking at my calendar this week is going to a heck of a week if everything goes according to plan. So, if I'm still alive come the eleventh of the month of so, be glad. For just a brief glimpse into the craziness of this week:
- I have a bio exam to take sometime between Monday and Wednesday
- I have a chem exam to take sometime between Wednesday and Friday
- I need to spend five plus hours working to prepare for invitational which is on Saturday night
- I'm still working twelve hours this week at my job
- My birthday is on Wednesday, and I might not have time to celebrate it very much
- My tennis classes are in full swing for the first time this week, so that's another eight hours of in-class time I haven't had till this week
- I have a computer programming lab due Friday which could take anywhere from an hour to twelve to finish
So yeah, it's going to be one of those weeks.
I probably won't get a blog post in... or at least don't bet on it. I'll be lucky to remember to write in my journal each day!
Well, it looks like that's all the rambling I have time for at this time of the morning - I have to go finish another week and a half's worth of chem homework, hopefully before 8 this morning.
'Til Next Time,
Jordan Nielson
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Time flies... when you're in school?
It may just be me, but it seems like time always goes so much faster when I'm in school than whenever I'm at home doing nothing. That's probably because if I'm at home that usually means I'm not being productive which leads to... I dunno, time going slowly? Anyway, it's been 2 weeks already since I last posted on here. I'm not sure if that's necessarily a bad thing, but there's definitely been a lot going on - the journal I recently started could attest to that.
Anyway, it's been a super crazy bit of time since I last posted on here with a ton of eventful life-changing events happening.
Farthest back, and probably most relevant at the moment is that my good friend passed away twelve days ago. It's been a tough little while, although her funeral service was fantastic. The spirit was super strong, the choir was phenomenal, and those who spoke truly spoke from their hearts. It was also nice to be able to go to the grave dedication, and to be able to support my friend as he goes through this tough time. I don't know about everyone else, but it's been kinda tough for me to pick up with school and keep going with that recently. For one because of my friend, and missing her presence, but also because...
I GOT MY MISSION CALL!!!!!
Anyway, yeah. I'm going to Oklahoma Oklahoma City!
I get the awesome privilege to speak English... and I leave in less than 3 months.
But yeah, aside from that and trying to keep up with school as other things come up has kept my life pretty interesting.
On another note, my tennis classes started recently and my coach is absolutely awesome. He's super chill, and I don't think I'm going to regret in the slightest having eight hours of class with him a week.
Anyway... I guess if you wanna know more about what's been going on... you could try and get me to let you read my journal, but that isn't likely to happen. Better off if you call me and try and pry it out of me with questions ;)
'Til Next Time,
Jordan
Anyway, it's been a super crazy bit of time since I last posted on here with a ton of eventful life-changing events happening.
Farthest back, and probably most relevant at the moment is that my good friend passed away twelve days ago. It's been a tough little while, although her funeral service was fantastic. The spirit was super strong, the choir was phenomenal, and those who spoke truly spoke from their hearts. It was also nice to be able to go to the grave dedication, and to be able to support my friend as he goes through this tough time. I don't know about everyone else, but it's been kinda tough for me to pick up with school and keep going with that recently. For one because of my friend, and missing her presence, but also because...
I GOT MY MISSION CALL!!!!!
Anyway, yeah. I'm going to Oklahoma Oklahoma City!
I get the awesome privilege to speak English... and I leave in less than 3 months.
But yeah, aside from that and trying to keep up with school as other things come up has kept my life pretty interesting.
On another note, my tennis classes started recently and my coach is absolutely awesome. He's super chill, and I don't think I'm going to regret in the slightest having eight hours of class with him a week.
Anyway... I guess if you wanna know more about what's been going on... you could try and get me to let you read my journal, but that isn't likely to happen. Better off if you call me and try and pry it out of me with questions ;)
'Til Next Time,
Jordan
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