Update!

Hello Family...sorry for the lack of e-mails and phone calls this week. I was very very very busy with school work. I think this is how the whole rest of the year is going to be. I am putting forth a lot more effort this year and plus my classes are quite difficult. Human Physiology is my toughest class for sure. We are learning about body mechanisms on the cellular level so its really difficult concepts to grasp, comprehend, and then remember. In our Lab for that class we are goin to start examining glucose and urine and learn how to do blood pressure and all of that stuff so that will be really interesting. We've also been learning about different diseases and how they effect the body on the cellular level. Psychology is my favorite class, I think. It is just so incredibly interesting! I'm really considering minoring it. Speaking of- I declared my major in Exercise Science. Declaring consists of signing a piece of paper, but it doesn't mean that you can never change your major- although I am not planning on doing that. My English class is also really great, but since I haven't written a real paper since high school, I'm realizing it's not my speciality any more. That's okay..it sould improve soon enough. My fourth class is Dance History...not the best, but still quite interesting and I think it's important to know about! I am also taking one dance class from a visiting professor. She is on staff at the Ailey school in New York City which is basically the most incredibly dance school in the nation, so that is awesome. So I'm writing this before I head off to work in a few minutes. Speaking of work, I got a TWO jobs! I work as an office assistant in the Physics department. It's only 3 days a week, 2 days for an hour and a half and Fridays for only an hour. It's not bad because it goes by really quickly. Every morning I go on a mail run which consists of me walking across campus to the mail room and delivering any outgoing mail from the department and then looking through the department's mail boxes (Math, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science), then I bring the mail back and put it in the corresponding professor's mail box. Quite exciting, I know! The whole mail run thing isn't too bad, but it might get slightly un-fun when it starts blizzarding. I also make random copies for professors who can't press the copy button themselves, file things, wash counters, water flowers, and other really important tasks. I think I'm getting smarter just by being in that department, though! My other job which I started last night is a Phonathon Caller! I get to call Alumni, student's parents, and friends and ask them to give Hope money!!! It's not as bad as it sounds. All the girls I work with are really fun and it's very laid back. I think this job is really going to help my communication skills and help me think on my feet..because people can say some really crazy things. Last night I talked to people who graduated from Hope in the 50s and it was really interesting to hear about their experiences here. Most were really friendly and I actually got 150$ in pledges! Some people get a couple thousand in pledges each night..but it was my first night and usually people don't even call on their first night, so I was ahead of the game! I have to work 2 nights a week for 4 hours for the Phonathon, but I get to pick whatever days I want to work, so its not bad. Also, I get paid for an extra hour from last night because we met our goal. Each day before we start calling our supervisor gives us a certain about of money for a goal, I think last night was $7,000 or something like that and if we meet it we get different incentives, and last night was an extra hour of pay! Wonderful! So...that's my life. I could probably write more, but I need to go get ready for work. Hope you enjoyed my update...much love.

jessica linn :)