anahorvath.com

Tag: organic chemistry

  • I’ll Never Take it For Granted Again

    granted

    Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had an okay week and are dealing with the stay at home orders alright. This past week at dinner, my sister asked the question, “After all of this ends, what’s one thing you’ll never take for granted?” It was a really good question honestly and it made me think quite a bit. What is one thing I’ll never take for granted again, after all of the social distancing recommendations and stay-at-home orders are lifted?

    There’s so much I have now realized that I am extremely grateful for with my sister’s question. For one, I’m thankful that I have a home to shelter in and complete my school work in for the semester. I have a family to go through these strange and uncertain times with and I also have friends that I can remain in touch with over FaceTime, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. 

    As much as I hate it and struggle with it, I have a way to finish my coursework and a quiet place to complete everything for my classes this semester. Online schooling has been absolutely miserable so far, and I cannot imagine the stress that professors are dealing with as we have transitioned to remote learning. I’m honestly not sure who has been more stressed, students or teachers. I’ve felt really grateful to be able to study in my own room at home and know where everything in my room has been and who has been in my room. I know that I can stay healthy and that those around me are also healthy and that is extremely comforting. As mentioned, I have not been a fan of how many of my classes have been delivered for the remainder of the semester, but I’m thankful that I still have the opportunity to learn even in these strange times. My organic chemistry lab has been extremely accommodating and I’m truly thankful for the amount of work that people like my lab TA and our lab coordinator have put into allowing us to finish our semester strongly and also cut us some slack and understand that learning from home is new, different, and weird for most. With the exception of my organic chemistry professor, things have been pretty okay. 

    More than anything, I am truly grateful and will never taking being outside for granted ever again. As a result of this whole lockdown thing, my family has been super duper limited in what we can do and where we can go, as have most of you. My life for the past however many days it has been has included going to the grocery store and taking my dog for a walk. That’s all the outside time I have recently gotten. I’m used to walking to class every day or playing tennis several times a week and this lockdown situation completely changed that not only for me, but for all of us! So many of us are so used to being more active and getting outside, especially here in Colorado. Every little chance I’ve been able to get outside, I take it. I absolutely LOVE going for walks with my family and dog every chance I get during this stay-at-home order and I truly wish I were able to play tennis, but for now, that’s not an option, but when it is, I’ll take it up first chance I get. Fresh air, the warm sun, and a gentle breeze are all I need to be happy after all of this is over. 

    So Allyson, to finally answer your question, one thing I will never take for granted is the great outdoors. No, I am not a super outdoorsy-go-hunting-dig-in-the-dirt-kinda girl. But I am the type of girl who loves to go for walks and spend time outside with family and friends. Any chance I get from here on out, as long as the world gets healthy soon, I plan to spend my time reading a good book, curled up in a chair on my patio, hitting on the tennis court with my sister, and just living life to the fullest under the sun. Sunscreen will of course be worn. 🙂 

    Going into this week, I want you all to think about my sister’s question too. What’s one thing you’ll never take for granted again, after this lockdown ends? If you want to share, feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me at my contact  page! I’d love to hear from ya. Have a wonderful week everyone! Stay healthy and I’ll see you next Sunday.  

  • Back to School! Getting Ready for Year 2 at CSU

    This past Monday, I moved back in at Colorado State University. Classes don’t start for another week but I was granted early move-in by the honors program (thank youuuu) so I could be all settled in in time for me to take part of the peer mentor trainings for freshman seminars that CSU requires through the honors program. Oooooh. Basically, I’m an instructor for a freshman seminar recitation course. Fun! I get to provide a bunch of resources to freshmen in the honors program and help make their transition to college as smooth as possible. I’m supposed to have a partner, but I’m not going to lie, he’s been a lousy one so far so we’ll see how that goes!

    Monday was a fun day. Let me tell ya. Monday = move in. I said all my goodbyes to my dad, Marty, Boo, and Bobo and then was in Fort Collins a little after noon. That’s when the unpacking began. My mom and sister made a second trip back to my house to get the rest of my stuff and then all of the magic in my new room truly happened. I’ll have to post a picture of it some time! The unpacking and sorting and decorating really wasn’t complete until around 6 o’clock and my mom, sister, and I had all skipped out on lunch so we were all pretty drained. When finished with my room, we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner where I ate WAY too much (but also needed it so we’re fine). After dinner, I said goodbye to my mom and sister and was back in my hall. Bed time followed shortly after. I was pooped!

    CSU

    Tuesday was a big training day for the peer mentor program. There were so many ice breakers and a lot of good information to help us all be the most successful and helpful instructors to our freshmen. Wednesday was the day I actually got to meet my freshmen and I’m so pleased with the group I got. They seem to be a wonderful group of very smart young individuals and I look forward to seeing them become more confident and comfortable with college. 🙂 I don’t know if many other honors programs run things the way that CSU’s honors program does, but I’m blown away by the attention and support that each student receives.

    Thursday was my first day to really just do nothing which was kind of nice but also really weird. This was the day that my sister, Allyson, was moving in at Regis University and also the day that most people were moving in on campus here at CSU. It was also Marty’s tenth birthday. I’m still celebrating and I’m still so thankful that my sweet bubba has been such a wonderful part of my life. Anyway…

    Thursday morning, not much happened. In the evening though, the big carnival on campus happened! Despite some threatening clouds and the occasional bit of rain, the carnival continued on. My friends and I didn’t do many of the rides (I’m personally just not a fan) but we did try every single ice cream thing (including snow cones) that was available to us. There was also popcorn and I found out I’m not horrible at skee ball. CSU seriously knows how to throw a welcome party, wow. This was a super fun night because I just got to be around so many good people that I love so so so much. I’m excited and thankful to be with the friends I made last year.

    Friday, once again, the morning was pretty slow and relaxed. My friend and I went to get our nails done and also had lunch at Torchy’s Tacos which has become one of my favorite places to eat in the whole entire world. The trashy trailer park tacos are the way to go in my opinion. 🙂 10/10 would recommend.

    CSU

    In the evening on Friday, there were activities at the Lory Student Center and that was my favorite part of this past week. My friends and I got there an hour before anything actually opened so that we could wait in line to stuff little Rams, kinda like what you do at Build-A-Bear Workshop. We successfully stuffed our Rams and then went on to collect so much free food from Spoons (which is a local Fort Collins favorite), Panda Express (a personal favorite haha), as well as That Bagel Place (which I believe is another Fort Collins thing). We made glitter jars and made sand art and really just enjoyed each others company. My friends and I even made it on the Lory Student Center’s Instagram story!

    Yesterday, I had my first day of work with a local tennis facility and I really enjoyed getting to play and TEACH the sport I love. The little lobbers (which were the 4-6 year olds) were my favorite. They were just all so adorable and so so so bad at tennis and I loved it! Teaching is a really different side of things that I think I’ll learn to really appreciate.

    This past week was exhausting but so much fun at the same time. I’m so excited to be heading into this school year and see where things take me from here. If you’re a fellow Rammie and you’re reading this, good luck here at CSU! 🙂 If you’ve headed back to school already, I hope things got off to a good start for you and if you’re just getting into classes and you’re not from CSU, I still wish you the best of luck. 🙂 We’re all gonna need it. Especially if your name is Ana Horvath and you’re taking a physics and organic chemistry at the same time… Have a good week!