Today was a good day. It’s crazy how keeping a schedule and staying ahead on work pay off. I adopted a calendar this semester that I have already put all the major dates in for the semester (tests, quizzes, project due dates), so at the beginning of the week, I check the calendar and put everything that I have due that week in a sticky note program that’s on my desktop (Plug: http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/). This helps me break down what I need to accomplish each day, and what I’ve found usually happens is I’m able to finish all I plan and start working ahead. Though it doesn’t destroy stress, it goes a long way to helping manage it.
I finished my first assembly program today, with some help from my professor via email, and was able to submit it 5 days early! The program is called “KEY”, and basically all it does is read in keystrokes and print them back out. It only prints out letters, and has to capitalize them (so if they are lowercase, they have to be changed to uppercase) and the program ends when a period is pushed. Actually a rather simple program. I was worried about it at spring retreat this weekend, because I wanted to get it done there, but didn’t want to have to spend a lot of time on it–but quickly figured out that there was nothing to be worried about.
I also had my first assembly test today. Since I’m taking it distance ed, I had to go to centennial campus to have it proctored. I got there an hour early and spent that hour going through another previous semesters test, then sat down for about an hour and answered all 33 questions with ease. I feel very confident and know that all the time I spent studying paid off for sure. Tomorrow I’ve got my first accounting test, which I’m not terribly worried about. The teacher has been doing a great job–and the homeworks have been simple.
After I got back to the house, I finally fixed my mp3 player, and took it while I went for a run–which was great. I haven’t run in… honestly I can’t remember the last time I did, but it has been too long. I feel so much better having gone, it’s unbelievable how much it clears your mind.
So all in all today has been incredibly productive, and it’s not even 8pm yet!
This week is Shack a Thon in the brickyard at NC State. Basically what happens is a bunch of groups build a shack in a 12×12 ft square and then have somebody in it 24/7 for a week. The idea is to raise donations for Habitat for Humanity, a charity that focuses on putting people into homes. I was asked to spend time at lunch one day this week playing the guitar for donations, something I’ve never done before. I’ve only recently gotten serious about playing guitar, and really only for the purpose of leading worship for XA. Though of course I learn a lot of fun songs, I don’t really view myself as someone who’s entertaining to sit and listen to while they play random songs–I’m not sure if I’ll be able to work it into my schedule this week, but if I do, I’ll be out there probably on Friday playing the guitar for… the big bucks….? Now I’ve got to go look up some tabs for cool songs……