#4

Attending college has not been easy for me. With two children to provide for, and a limited income, some people think my time would be better spent at a full time job. It's true that I'm spending a lot of money to attend school, and each year I get deeper in debt. I had to choose between a full time job or training for a future career. However, I feel as though college is the right choice.

I have always been what you'd call "book smart". I've had to put very little effort into getting A's all throughout school. But being smart isn't something easily hidden from the people close to me, which means that my family expects a lot out of me. Sometimes I don't live up to those expectations. I've had a lot more difficulty achieving high grades during college, given all the other areas of life I have to focus on. Although my family claims to be proud of me, I often feel as if I'm letting them down by not having a perfect GPA.

Luckily, my husband is very supportive of me, both financially and emotionally. He works to provide for our family, so that I may finish getting my degree. When I am feeling stressed by the combined pressures of homework, motherhood, and anything else, he is there to calm me down and reassure me that it will all work out. I feel very blessed to have someone like him.

#3

When I first started college classes, I enrolled in College Algebra with a couple girlfriends of mine. I thought taking the class with them would help, since I am not the best math student to begin with. The class was at 9am. At the time, I was also pregnant with my first child. Those two factors meant one big problem: I felt sick. A lot. I rarely made it through an entire lecture without having to excuse myself for a restroom visit.

So, not a very good equation, right? Well, to top it off, my professor spoke in a monotone voice and was very little help when it came to explaining concepts we were studying! Also, he wasn't very fond of me - probably because of the aforementioned bathroom breaks.

Getting through that class was Hell. I dreaded going, and I fell further and further behind on assignments with each passing week. I tried to keep up, but I missed so many of the lectures (which weren't very helpful to begin with), and I felt like I had no idea what to do with any of the homework. Somehow, through what I believe was a combination of last-minute cramming and a miracle, I did well enough on the final to get a C for the class. It isn't my proudest accomplishment, but I made it through, and that's what really counts.

#2

Throughout my life, I've had many notebooks and diaries. Some have been about recording thoughts, while others were about recording memories (two different purposes, I believe.) I think the purpose behind a notebook can vary, depending on the person. For me, I sometimes look back on old entries and reminisce on how I was feeling and who I was during that time. I don't view it as a narcissistic habit, but rather a somewhat effective way of keeping the past alive. As Didion pointed out, we can forget exactly what it felt like to be ourselves during a certain time frame, but keeping a record can help bring those memories back to the forefront of our thoughts.

Social media serves a completely different purpose, though. Tweets and status updates are relatively easy to compose, as it doesn't take much thought to type up, "Getting pizza for dinner. Score!" Although these little thoughts are typically shared with hundreds of other people, they rarely make lasting impacts. I don't know what my status update was last Friday, nor do I care. I may tweet about my annoyance over poor customer service at a store, and it may even get a few stars and retweets, but that isn't really something I will look back at one day and feel a surge of nostalgia over.

No, the things I actually take time to commit to pen and paper are what I remember the best. I suppose the same can be accomplished with blogs, although I believe those are still often too public to express true, uncensored feelings. In this way, I believe Didion would probably have a blog of her own, where she could post her essays. She would probably keep her notebooks, though, with all her personal memory cues and not-quite-facts.

#1 - About Me

My name is Kara Garcia (listed as Kara Kyser under the class roster), and I am a 22 year old junior at Washburn. I was born and raised here in Topeka, Kansas. I graduated from Topeka High School with the class of 2007. Currently, I am a psychology major, although I am also considering a minor in marketing or something similar.

This past March, I married my high school sweetheart and boyfriend of six years. We have two daughters together: Aubrey, who is three years old, and Allison, who is 20months old. Having children has really brought a whole new meaning and purpose to my life, and I love being a stay-at-home-mother. (Most days!)

On top of raising two girls, I am a full-time student. I don't currently have a job, but I do like to stay active in different groups in my free time. I am the Psi Chi/Psych Club Undergraduate Liaison at Washburn, help with distribution of XYZ and SevenEightFive magazine (both are local mags) around Topeka, and volunteer with a local organization that brings necessary toiletries and other items to homeless people.

I am also currently working on a web show! I am a member of the production team, and also an actress. The show is set to go live online on November 5th. Currently, we're doing pre-production table readings and photo shoots. It's all very exciting for me, and I hope it becomes quite popular!

So, that's a little bit about me. Hope you enjoyed it.