Finally-- Finals!

After tomorrow it is official, Thomas is going to turn upside down. Tomorrow is the last official day of classes. Most of the professors hold their finals during finals week, however, sometimes you get lucky and have a professor that will let you take a final the week before to keep you from having to stay late the following week.

This is also the week where professors like to let their classes out early. At this point all of the material that was suppose to be covered should be finished with. You basically have 30-40 minute classes that explain your final and then they let you out to enjoy the sunny weather.

Also, a lot (if not all) of the students are starting to clean out their rooms. I noticed this morning that it seemed like the dumpsters are getting awfully full, already. This year completely flew by! My roommate and I were discussing earlier about how there are a lot of kids leaving that came in with us as Freshman last year. (The students that only signed up for 2 year majors.) I have to admit that most of them with be greatly missed.

And to finish up, I know the weather is getting nice out and people are becoming a lot more active, but please be careful. Most of us have a tendency to drive fast and goof around with our friends while driving to the lake or beach and the police are out. I was pulled over yesterday for just that reason. So be careful and everyone have a great week of finals. See most of you all next year. For those of you that are either graduating with a 2 year degree or a 5-4 yr degree, good luck! You will be missed.

Free Movie Night

For those of you that don't already know, Thomas has a free movie night where all the Thomas students (that can show a Thomas ID) get into the local movie theatre free after 7. Apparently, there were so many people that showed up for the7:00 showing for The Haunting of Ct. they had to ask some people to come back. (That probably would have been inconvenient, however, they gave everyone that came back another free movie ticket to come back whenever they wished because of the hassle.)

So, for those of us that did watch the movie I think we all enjoyed it. Not only was it exactly what I wanted to see-- a jumpy movie that wasn't bloody-- but it had a great story line behind it. I would recommend that movie to anyone that likes suspenseful movies with twists and turn that defiantly creep up on you. So before I give too much away, in case you all didn't already realize this, it was one of the best horror movies I have seen in years. It puts a new twist on old tricks that make you jump and nothing is expected. So I hope everyone gets a chance to go out and see it.

First Line in the Water of '09

Like most of the Thomas students, the end of the year brings forth an added stress. It's not like the fall semesters finals, these always seem bigger. Not to mention it's right before summer so we are all starting to fall off the band wagon and are ready to be done. This weekend we made sure to have a stress reliever; I finally got in my first cast of '09. The plan originated from baiting in Turkey for the season that is rapidly approaching and then quickly went from anticipating turkey's for weeks ahead to wanting to do something NOW. So we did.

We drove to Johnson's Sporting Goods, grabbed some bait and headed out. Even though its still a little too cold to catch the big pike and bass we were anticipating just to sit on the water and cast was relaxing. The "plunk" of my spinner bait hitting the water, slowly reeling in my line while it catches the muck sliding along the bottom of the lake. It was a perfect way to let loose and forget about everything stressful that has been going on. Even my shoulder held out for a few casts before I had to take some medicine and wrap it up in ice. Hopefully the surgery this summer doesn't slow me down too much. Besides that, all is well. School is almost out and everything is in line for, what I am hoping is going to be, a great summer.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter. It seemed like the majority of campus was really busy all weekend between sports and going home to see family. It was-- without a doubt-- a great break from the school food to go home on a holiday:)

Also, tomorrow night is the beginning of the housing lottery! It starts at 8:00. The only people that are excused from being there (that want to sign up for particular rooms next year AND met the financial standards) are school sports players. See everyone there and hope everyone had a great holiday! 4 more weeks until summer break!

Summer is around the cornor!!

Well, we are back from break and in the home stretch! It seems like this year is flying by. Including this week, there are only 5 weeks left. Unfortunately that means not only wrapping up classes, but signing up for new ones, completing finals, and packing for home. Luckily the rain over break almost completely eliminated the snow on campus. All that is left are a few little mounds where the mutinaus crew plowed :) And the sun is FINALLY out! In the 9 days of vacation I only saw the sun in 3 of them, and it managed to hide again and rain all 3 of those days.

Also, the housing lottery is right around the corner. It seems like this year has been go, go, go, and now that it's winding down there isn't enough time to complete everything. The admissions consolers have been doing a great job recruiting and I think next year will have another massive freshman class. Hopefully, we picked a good crew of RA's for next year that communicate with one another and get along.

For those of you that don't already know, we have a consoler here at Thomas that is about to have a baby!!! Everyone keep an eye out for when Cory Pelletier brings in baby Jack when he's finally arrived. It's going to quickly turn into a morning routine for us in the office to ask if he's finally here yet. Cory's wife Jen was due on the 3rd so he should be pretty close to finally saying hi to all of us that are waiting for him.

Last Minute Things To Do

Just over a month left! It seems like Spring break marks the beginning of the end for the Thomas kids. The school year is almost out, so now it's time to plan for next year: Housing lottery, dorm deposits, pre-registration, etc.

The first thing to think about is what classes we want to be in. It's really important to have a good relationship with your advisor! Maybe, if need be, they could pull some strings to get you into classes that could potentially not be available to you or are already filled.

Next, you defiantly need to make sure the $200.00 deposit for the housing lottery is in by the 7th. That basically just guarantees that you will have some say in where you will be placed and with whom. The number draw for the lottery is the 9th and the 10th of April. That just tells you how good your odds are of getting top choice by not only seniority but also by luck. It's when you will be able to choose your room, and with whom!

By the 13th of April we should know where we will be placed next semester; hopefully in a spot that my roommate and I were planningn already being. It seems like there are a lot more freshman that will be joining the Thomas crew next year which means that a large number of this year's freshman will be battling to get into other dorm housing.

Luckily for some of us, I heard it through the grapevine that they have designated doubles in village next year. (Which if privacy, room, and cleanliness are important, village double will definitely be top on your choice list.)

One More Week

Spring break is finally almost here, and the students are showing it. The weather is slowly, but surely, getting nicer. There is starting to be less snow and more mud. The sun is out almost always, and the sun is actually out past 5:00!! That also means that the semester is wrapping up and grades are counting now more than ever.

A lot of students over Spring Break will be heading out on vacation; some because of sports, others with friends to let loose and relax. Unfortunately, like the other students not leaving, I will be working.

This is the time of year that most kids drop the ball and get so excited for break and summer they lose focus on why they are at Thomas. It seems like most kids drop their harder classes around this time too because they realize how late in the year it is and don’t want their GPA to drop. It is the best time to buckle down. Like you, most of your professors are getting Spring Fever and don’t want to be on campus anymore than anyone else does. That means they are irritable!!! Go to class! It's the easiest way to stay on a professor’s good side. If you do need to miss class, email them first because when half the kids don’t show up because it’s the day after St. Patty’s day, your professors will not be impressed.

This is when teachers can separate kids they give the benefit of the doubt to, and the slackers. It could be the deciding factor on whether or not they give you the extra couple points for the B- instead of giving you the C+. Study hard, only a few weeks to go!