Anxiety

As I sit here studying for my first math test I fight with the usual test anxiety. I understand the concepts, theories and remember most of the formulas. My problem? I tend to make stupid mistakes, usually entering something into the calculator or transposing numbers. Speed kills is a very accurate statement with me and math.

I have also noticed that it is when I try to do something in my head I run into problems. Normally mental math is a strong suit of mine, but with the pressure of testing I tend to freeze up. This is why the calculator is a marvel machine! As long as everything is entered correctly lol. I honestly have to concentrate and enter the numbers very slowly or I transpose or miss numbers and that is no good when taking a test!

Logarithms are not as difficult as anticipated, dimensional analysis is pretty simple, but exponential growth and decay is not my favorite. So much room for error!

Wish me luck!

The Olympics

Did anyone else find it somewhat funny that while the Olympics are on the west coast, the east coast saw the opening ceremonies before we did?

The Winter Olympics are by far my favorite. There are so many events that I enjoy watching. My only problem is finding time to finish all this school work during that time. I loved watching the 1500m short track men's speed skating. When those two Korean's took each other out and Apolo Ohno and JR Chelski skated in for silver and bronze.. wow! I was impressed with JR Chelski's skating. This was his first competition since he put a severe gash in his leg requiring 60 stitches. Talk about courage, I am not sure I could get back on the ice after going through something like that. But then again if it is something I had been training for my whole life I probably would have too. I believe at 19 he is Ohno's heir apparent.

I am currently watching the men's biathlon. I have no idea how they can get their heart rates up so high from skating, only to have to calm down enough to shoot accurately. My heart goes out to these athletes that miss 1, 2 and 3 targets. Penalties are steep and I am sure heartbreaking. Brutal. Add in the crappy weather, my hats off to them for even finishing.

I leave you with .. GO TEAM USA

Almost a week later and I still am not feeling well. I have managed to somehow keep up with all my school work but I can't honestly tell you how. I spent most of the weekend sleeping. I am better, just not completely healthy.

I did watch the Super Bowl and thought it was an ok game. I was neutral as far as who should win, but in the end I am glad the Saints won (even though they beat my Vikings), as it was their first time. I had high hopes for the Vikings this year, Favre included. Then during the playoff game, the 19 year veteran made a rookie mistake with 12 seconds left in the game, leading to the game-ending interception. Heart-breaking for sure. I did find it rather funny that the next day when I checked my e-mail the very first one in the box was from the Viking Locker Room advertising 25% off Favre jerseys. Way to kick a guy when he is down. He has had a good run but I truly believe it is time for him to retire. He was pretty badly man-handled by the Saints, and got up slower every time.

Now let me assure you I have always been a Vikings fan. Heck I am even a Twins fan and they haven't done anything for years. Having been born in Minnesota, I have a soft spot in my heart for both teams. This may give away my age but my idols as a kid were Harmon Killebrew, Fran Tarkenton, and Tony Olivia!