University Days

I've had quite a few challenging courses throughout college. This semester is my last semester before graduating so this assignment was a fun reflection on my last four years of college. My very first semester I took sociology at Washburn. At the time I was also taking psychology and anthropology. Looking back on this, I don't think it was the best of ideas to take these three courses in the same semester. Sociology was honestly one of the hardest classes for me to actually get interested in. The material seemed quite boring and it was very difficult for me to pay attention in the class. I did the homework and read the required readings, but nothing could make me actually enjoy the course. I don't like to say that I don't like a course because of the teacher, but in this case, the teacher definitely didn't make the course any more enjoyable. About 5 weeks into the course I had had enough. I wasn't getting anywhere in the course and couldn't grasp the material the way I felt I should be. I decided to go ahead and drop the course, and then took it online the following semester. For me, having a class withdrawal on my transcript seemed better than having a failing grade. This semester was also a struggle because I was pregnant and was having complications with the pregnancy. When I re-took the course, the teacher explained the material in a way to be understood and made the course very enjoyable. I've had some challenging courses over the last few years, especially in nursing school, but I'm proud of myself and proud of my accomplishment of getting to graduate in December.

response to on keeping a notebook

I do agree with Didion that keeping a notebook or a blog is a sense of keeping in touch. Being that this story was written 40 years ago though, I would have to say that I think a blog today would be slightly different than the notebook that Didion was referring to. In today's society there is so much chaos and movement that many people don't take the time to stop and notice their surrounding's. In the essay, Didion would write about conversations she heard to help her remember those times if she read them in the future. I'm a guilty one. I would have to say that if I wrote about my day and read it a few years later, I probably wouldn't  be able to picture that day nearly as well as I would have hoped to. Reading the essay makes me want to be that person who stops to really look around and takes in everything around her and figures out a way to remember it. I don't personally blog by writing, I keep more of a photo blog of what I've done with my kids and to share with other members of my family. I feel that many people keep photo blogs of what they've done, especially with the technology that is available.

About Me

Hi. I'm Stephanie Murphy...at work I am called Smurphy and it's kinda stuck with me the past few years. I am a 4th semester nursing student getting ready to graduate in December. I am a born and raised Topekan, graduated from Topeka West in 2007 and started Washburn in the fall. I am a mom to two beautiful children, my daughter Shelby who is 3 and my son Seth who is 9 months.

I have always enjoyed writing. I was in both debate and forensics in high school and learned quite a bit about writing in both classes. My junior English teacher in high school, Mr. Newberry teaches English classes at Washburn and I also contribute my writing abilities to him. I have to say I am a little bit rusty with writing. The papers we write in nursing school are a tad bit different than what I would write in an English class, but I can say that I finally feel fairly comfortable with APA style that we use.

I look forward to the class!