Doing Homework at 3am… and Enjoying it?

It’s 3am and I still need to finish my homework. Why am I blogging?! It’s been a long time since I stayed up this late (because I have early classes this semester) and I forgot that I kind of like it.

I like that I’m the only noise in the apartment (although, my roommate surely does not like it. She would probably kill me if she knew how often my frantic typing in the middle of the night was blogging instead of homework.) I also like that it’s just me and my computer with no distractions (except the internet…). And for some crazy reason, I like that I’m on a deadline and I have to get this done before I go to bed. When I do my homework in the middle of the night I am so much more productive and I work so much quicker than when I actually do my work at a reasonable time.

It’s probably not good that I like any of this. And I will surely pay for it in the morning when my alarm clock goes off at 8am and I’ve only have 4 hours of sleep. But right now it’s just me and my keyboard. And I really like that.

The Internet is Confusing – and Thoughts on Learning

So, I’ve been trying to gain experience with different social media websites (Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, etc.) to strengthen my skills and possibly also my resume. But it’s harder than I expected. I’m only 21, this stuff should be easy!

            I can’t imagine how my parents feel. I’ve tried to help my dad figure out the basics like email, and it’s similar to what I imagine it would be like to teach a child to ski. It can be funny at times (he cannot figure out how to double-click!) but it is mostly just frustrating. It seems so easy to me, how can he not understand it.

But then I remember what it was like being a kid and being taught how to ski by my dad. It was quite a while ago, but I remember that no matter how hard I tried some things just did not work, like getting my boots to click into the bindings. Now it seems so simple, but back then it was like the pieces just didn’t fit. Maybe it’s the same way with learning about the many facets of the internet. Things simply don’t make sense at first, but with lots of practice – and some help along the way – they will start to click. And one day it will all make sense and you won’t even remember that it was confusing to begin with.

Maybe this is just what learning is like – whether you are learning to ski, send an email, or fly a plane (not that I have any experience with that). When I finish conquering social media, I’ll move on to something else and the frustration will begin again. But it’s all worth it in the end to have that new skill and to remember back to a time when it was so foreign and think about how far you’ve come.

What skills are you working on? Is it going smoothly, or are you having troubles too? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you!

And if you’re a high school senior or college student check out my other blog http://adviceforthealmostadult.blogspot.com/ for some lighthearted college tips (this site also links to my Twitter and possibly other social media sites in the future)

I hope you all have a wonderful day and remember that if you’re struggling to learn something new, soon enough you will forget that it was ever hard.

Deciding What To Do After Graduation

There are moments when I panic because I feel like I’m not qualified to do anything and I’ll never be able to find a job after college. And there are moments when I panic because there are too many options and I don’t want to have to make a choice.

Right now, I’m feeling the latter. Which is a bit of a relief, because I’ve been having nightmares about going back to work at the deli. I’ve been trying to categorize my possible futures and this is what I have so far:

• Publishing Industry (anything I could get)
• Law School (to become an Intellectual Property lawyer)
• Teaching (preferably high school English)

And then there’s the whole block of jobs that I don’t even know exist yet. I feel like when you start to grow up and thinking about careers you only think about the ones you see either in your own life or on television or in movies – fireman, astronaut, lawyer, actor, teacher, plumber, farmer, cafeteria lady, librarian, waitress, janitor, etc. But there are thousands, maybe millions (I’m awful with numbers) of other jobs. Like whoever writes the text that goes on the back of shampoo bottles (I’ve always thought that would be fun) or someone who designs the trays used in cafeterias. There is probably some random job out there that I would love. Maybe a whole bunch of random jobs I would love.

So I’ve been wondering if maybe I should stop panicking. Maybe I should just apply for EVERYTHING I can find and take what I can get and see if I like it. If I hate it then that’s one job to cross off my list, and if I love it, great! Because right now, I don’t really know what I like.

Do you struggle or have you struggled with choosing a path in life or career? Ever wondered if you’re making the right choices? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section!

Trying to Blog Better

So, this semester I’m taking a class on blogging (we will we cover a lot of other stuff too, but it’s mainly blogging) and I’m learning that there is a lot of stuff I’ve been doing wrong. My biggest mistake, which comes as no surprise to me, it that I don’t post regularly and I do not post consistent material. I’m really going to try to work on this in the months to come. I like my blog here and I like that I give myself free rein to write about whatever I want to write about, but I do need to post more often.

I also may be renaming some of my blog posts and reorganizing in general, because apparently you should name posts based on what people would be searching for. Shocker! Don’t know how I overlooked that one.

The bottom line is that I hope to make this a better blog for any lovely people who may choose to read it. Oh, and another thing I need to work on: building a community! So comment below (if you want to, I’m not going to force you!) and tell me some of your goals for the year or the semester (blogging goals or life goals or anything!)

Here is the link to the blog I’m creating for class: http://adviceforthealmostadult.blogspot.com (I know, it’s on Blogspot, I feel like a traitor. But in all honesty I like WordPress much better!) It focuses on practical and – hopefully – fun advice for college! Here is a quote from one of my posts:

         “Lesson #4: Don’t trust printers, any of them. As soon as you think you know a printer, it will turn on you. Waiting till the last-minute to print something important is risky business. Leave enough time to run to the library before class, or to beg the librarian for help if you’re already there.”