my weekly round-up: i’m sick. 😦 my throat has been acting up all day, especially while i was playing l4d2 and when i went back home to watch star trek: secrets of the universe on the history channel i almost fell asleep on the couch (and that’s nothing to do with the show’s content, ’cause frankly anything to do with astronomy and sci-fi interests me a lot. maybe if i took the time to pursue science and math, yes, i said it, i would have attempted to go into astrophysics). but apart from the small scratch in my throat, and the rising fever, i really can’t complain. ’cause this week was an amazing end to my final semester as an english major.
i’d spent the last seven semesters stuck in the second upper class and i was pretty much resigned to be there by the end of this semester too ’cause the possibilities of me hitting first class were very low. i overloaded two classes to complete a second minor and with this i also hoped to improve my GPA as well – but more so ’cause i was beginning to really love linguistics and wanted to just take more of those classes. taking my final dissertation alone felt very lonely and i was worried that i would get too complacent and would stop learning and instead just coast through the rest of the semester with mediocre work. the thing was that i required straight As to make it into the first class, which was becoming more and more unlikely as the semester went on.
firstly, my first few assignments in the semester weren’t all that impressive. for one class, i was just getting the class average for both of my quizzes which made up 40% of the course’s grade. furthermore, for one of the essays i got a B, which made up another 10%. in the past, i’d been really good at estimating what final grade i would get for each course. if 50% of my grades for that course was around a B, then i was most likely just going to get a B or at best a B+. the other course i was doing was slightly better. but at most i predicted an A- for it. so, from my outlook, it definitely did not look like i would manage to hit first class. and i was okay accepting that.
but, due to a miracle (of God), the course i thought would turn out to ruin my GPA ended up much better than expected. and i have a feeling that a large aspect of that was my determination to get the group project part of the course done well. and i am so thankful that not only me but also my two groupmates managed to come out from our hardwork, typing in google docs till 5am in the morning, with an A.
so i managed it, i managed to hit my first class by a thin margin. for my uni it’s a 4.5 to get the class. i just managed to hit it with a 4.51. and when i saw that number, i thought something was wrong, that they didn’t calculate that last course that would possibly screw it up. or i misread it as 3.51 or 4.41. but after staring at it for about half an hour (on and off, not constantly), it began to sink in. and i think it sank in more when the next day i got to see the concrete grades. and i just kept thanking God. i just kept thanking him over and over again for such an amazing miracle.
i know uni is not just about grades, it’s about learning, and trust me, i have made every attempt to learn completely, to get every ounce of knowledge from it (that’s why i took up the maximum number of minors – two – in the process). i also know that uni is also about friends and experiences and, trust me, i really did have the time of my life there too. i spent my entire four years in my hall of residence, i played recreational games, captained a team and led them to win a silver medal. i am so thankful that i really tried my best in all aspects of uni life.
one aspect i am really thankful and proud of especially is my dissertation. it was the only time i could merge my love of such authors as edgar allan poe, jean rhys and toni morrison with my love for pop culture zombies; i can proudly say that i wrote an analysis on the women in the resident evil gameplay and got academic credit for it. the ‘A’ was just the icing on the cake. and an ever greater privilege was to capture the interest and curiosity of my supervisor with a topic that was definitely beyond her comfort zone.
so this week, i am thankful and proud of myself for my accomplishments. sometimes life is unkind and cruel, and sometimes it can give you such surreal surprises such as this one.
1. song of the week: popular song by MIKA ft. Ariana Grande
i had this song stuck in my head the entire weekend. and i can’t believe that i just found it ’cause it adorably blends the melody and lyrics from Wicked‘s popular song. and i love the video’s vibe. it’s very addam’s family meets edward scissorhands and just very tim burton-ish. and i love the twist at the end. i feel like these kinds of music videos are missing nowadays …
2. youtube video of the week: warm bodies parody by the hillywood show
i can’t really say that this is a typical youtube video i love. but i do love the hardwork and effort they put into making this one. i think the dance moves are amazing, i think it’s amazing that they managed to get the actual costumes from the set and rob corddry to feature in this one. so i think this is definitely worth the watch! 🙂
3. trailer of the week: mine of steel: superman by machinima
okay, this doesn’t exactly count as a trailer, but their minecraft version of man of steel is amazing! i must have watched it about five times already. they also have a side by side comparison video that just gets me as well. for minecraft fans, you must check this one out!
lastly, thank you for being a reader or follower of my blog! i will continue to keep posting frequently.
cumuloq ❤
Cumuloquoise Blog 