blog by zahra

Hi Everyone!

Apologies for slacking off on this blog!  I blame a combination of nothing exciting/interesting to write about (nothing exciting about exam time, that’s for sure) and the upcoming final exams.   The last 2 weeks of the term are always the hardest and longest for me; I’m sure you can relate.  I promise to update the blog once exams are done – I can’t wait to write reviews about all my courses and professors!

Until then, GOOD LUCK on your exams!

In Flanders Field by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I’ve previously posted about increasing retention of material by studying in different locations (https://blogs.ubc.ca/theblogbyzahra/?p=56).  This past weekend, however, I just discovered something that blew my mind away.

Before school started, I carried out my annual ritual of tidying my bedroom so that it looked fresh and untouched.  This year, I said to myself, would be the year it would stay neat until the end of the term.  Of course, as human nature predicts, it only lasted one month.  Papers were chaotically organized all over the floor, my desk no longer served the purpose of a workspace, and half my clothes were, well, not in the closet.  Two days ago, I decided that I would not continue to shuffle papers until December.  I spent a few hours cleaning, dusting, and vacuuming, and voila!  My room once again resembled my post-summer bedroom.  But what’s even more interesting…

I became more efficient in doing my work!  I used to be relatively efficient at completing my assignments and quizzes at the beginning of the year, but, as the term progressed, I started to leave things to the last minute.  Cleaning up my room to what it used to be also caused my work habits to revert back to being the way they used to be.  For once, going back to doing something the way I used to turned out to be good!  Neat, eh?