Studying for Exam 1 and Giordano's Pizza

Ah, the day before an exam. Though it’s not the first day I’ve started studying for this test, the nerves are definitely getting to me today. I woke up at 10 AM (what a great start, right?) and had lunch at the Dining Commons an hour and a half later.

Instead of going to an RA-held activity, I chose to stay in my dorm and write an essay on our reading assignment, The Alternative Genome. Kaitlyn, my roommate, went to the Adler Planetarium, so I had the room to myself. After blogging around 500 or more words each night, 300-400 words seemed like nothing. In fact, I had trouble keeping the word count under 450.

Jimmy and Vicky visited my room afterwards to hang out and talk. We talked about what we’ll do after the ILC program is over, how we feel more mature and responsible after this ILC trip, and talked about hanging out and staying in touch with each other once regular school starts again. I think our Chicago cohort is hands-down one of the closest cohorts this summer (thanks to all those late nights blogging, no doubt).

Jimmy and Vicky left to make a CVS run afterwards, leaving me to edit my essay. After that was done, I started studying for my exam tomorrow. One thing I’ve learned in all of my two years of high school is that exam reviews are highly helpful! I’m so glad Danny and Ciara posted the exam review slides on Chalk, where UChicago class materials are posted. I studied until I heard a knock on my door.

Giordano's! It was delicious.

Oyin came in asking about pizza. I had no clue what she was talking about until Jimmy and Vicky came in the room with a box of deep-dish pizza from Giordano’s and toothpaste for me (I didn’t even have to ask them!). It was my first time eating Giordano’s pizza in three years, so I really enjoyed eating the pizza (and having a study break with the rest of the cohort at the same time). We ate, talked, and hung out in my room until I kicked them out (in the nicest way possible, of course) so I could study. 

I hope I studied the right things well enough. Despite my anxiety, I’m excited about the field trip we’re taking to the Comprehensive Cancer Center DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Facility tomorrow after the exam. I’m also excited to see how the plate I painted with fluorescent bacteria turned out.

I know the beginning of this blog started out by saying how easy it is to write 500 words each night, but I have a test tomorrow! I’ll call it a night.