michelle rivers - my adventure blog

School ended successfully- Finals went well, and my GPA is 4.0! I was also initiated into a National Psychology Honors society called Psi Chi. When it was all over, I was not ready to come home, I really love it in Santa Cruz. Now that I'm here, though, I don't want to go back! I'm thankful to be happy in both places. Since I've been home, I've been busy. Break ha s flown by, as I knew it would. I started December with a trip to Long Beach with my friend Jennifer. We stayed at her in-law's beach house, which wa s absolutely gorge ous. We also checked out the Long Beach Aquariu m, which was much bigger than I expected. We spent a good chunk of the day there seeing all the sea life. We even got a behind-the-scenes look at the back, where they keep cute little artic foxes (look at its nose!) The next day we walked/drove around the city, stopping at cute little shops and a fancy Spanish restaurant called Sevilla, where I tri ed rabbit for the first time... not

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I had some pretty big assignments due at the beginning of the week, so once they were done I was able to enjoy myself. Monday night was my roommate's birthday, so I took her out to a local Italian place. We got all dressed up! Tuesday afternoon my Mom arrived in Santa Cruz. Being the busy- bee that she is, she was stopping by for a "lay-over" on her way home from New Zealand! She had a wonderful trip, and we spent the last couple of days exchanging stories. We spent Tuesday at my campus's arboretum. The lighting was perfect so I went a little picture crazy. Here are a few: That night we headed up to San Francisco, with a quick sto p at my friend Erica's house to say 'hi' to her family who were also visiting. On Wednesday we explored Fisherman's wharf and ate our traditional "clam chowder in a bread bowl" while watching the sea lions. After a drive down Lombard Street, we went to Ghirardelli Square

Allow me to update my blog to procrastinate the papers I should be working on! In my defense, I had a big assignment due yesterday, so I need a break. This quarter is going by ridiculously fast. A part of me feels like I just got here, but at the same time, I feel like Santa Cruz is my home now. I just chose classes for Win ter quarter - they are really impacted! Literally A LL of the upper division psychology classes are full, but I'm going to talk to a counselor to work that out later today. I officially declared the Intensive Psych major (research oriented) and the education minor, so I should be able to get the classes I need. Last week I had some time to explore campus and the surrounding area some more. I went to Natural Bridges State Park with a friend, which is a beautiful beach nearby. Here's why it's called "Natural Bridges": We also explored the tidepools and saw tons of colorful sea stars, sea urchins, anemones, crabs, and plants. The day was very

I've been very busy lately, hence the lack of updates! The quarter system goes by much faster than I am used to... We already had midterms last week (which I feel I did very well on!) My classes are more manageable now that I've gotten a feel for what I need to focus on in the readings and in lecture. My teachers are great and I'm inspired everyday. On Tuesday and Thursday nights, I've been babysitting for two boys (age 7 and 10.) It's my first time babysitting for older boys, and it is quite a challenge! They keep me busy and entertained, to say the least. It's also been nice to have a little extra income for the weekends. When I'm not studying or in class, I've been attending various social events our college puts on- pumpkin decorating, pie making, open mics, game shows, etc. I've also been spending time with my friends Erica and Riley, who are also going to school up here. A couple weeks ago they cooked me dinner and we watched "Airplane.&qu

I started classes on Thursday of last week. I'm already in love with my professors and really looking forward to the class material, despite having to wake up at 6:45am! My child psychopathology teacher (also a practicing clinical psychologist) offers positions for his stellar students to mentor some of his youth clients. Excited at the prospect of working in the field, I immediately emailed him and we have an interview set up for Tuesday. Wish me luck! I'm making some good connections with fellow students. I happened to run into a boy who attended Mesa, my community college, and took the same intensive research class as me a few years ago. Since we both had the same training and teacher recommendations, we are most likely going to take the advanced research methods course together. I thought networking would be a little harder on the large University campus, but so far it's going really well. The amount of reading is going to take some getting used to. The material is rea

About a week ago, I spent the weekend with my friend Jennifer. We went to visit her friend Rick, who owns a lot of animals: baby snakes, rattlesnakes, tons of mice (he breeds them for a living), turtles, lizards, a dog, etc. I got to see a sidewinder, my favorite rattlesnake, eat! I wouldn't recommend everyone watch this video, but I think it's interesting: We couldn't do much that night because of the blackout, but the next day we went to the zoo. We had a great day seeing all the animals. I spent the rest of last week saying goodbye to friends and family. I'm going to miss San Diego and everyone I love, but I am very excited about starting a new chapter of my life. Wednesday morning my Mom, Tony, and I left for Santa Cruz. We made great time and made it up to the campus by about noon. Move-in went well; I thought I had a lot of stuff but many people beat me! (Which is good, because my roommate and I ended up on the corner room, which is a lot smaller th

This month has flown by. I've been catching up with friends, hiking, attending psychology conferences, shopping, and babysitting. Last week I went hiking with a few friends from Costa Rica. We went right around sunset and caught a ton of animals: hawks, owls, a rattlesnake, a tarantula, frogs, lizards, and more. Don't try this at home... my friend caught cute little green snake. You may be happy to know I didn't take this picture, but I did get pretty close. We also found a swing someone had attached to a tree, and had a good bit of fun on that. After the hike we went out for some delicious sushi nearby. Yesterday we went hiking in Lakeside and caught another beautiful sunset and some extraordinary views. I leave for Santa Cruz on September 14th. I'll be taking 3 classes:(15 units) : Intro to Education, Developmental Psychopathology, and Child Psychopathology. I'll be living in the dorms with a roommate. I've never met her but she seems like a ni

Country, city, mountains, sky I've been home for a couple days now. It's been interesting, trying to re-adjust to the American lifestyle. I've been feeling some of the symptoms of reverse culture shock: restlessness, confusion, sadness, and even reverse homesickness. Although I'm excited to be back, there's so much to miss. I miss having my laundry done by my host mothers and waking up to fresh fruit and bread each morning. I miss being able to hear the beautiful mumurs of Spanish everywhere I go. I miss having to think before I speak and making silly mistakes. I miss the beautiful countryside and the smell of the rainforest. I miss the exotic wildlife only inches away from my camera lens. I miss swimming in the warm, Carribbean ocean. I miss looking down the long, empty beach, knowing that turtle eggs lie beneath the sand. I miss hopelessly trying to keep up with the locals with salsa and meringue music. I miss walking to school and running into trees covered in