--Last year I was charged out-of-state tuition and only withdrew in time to get 25% of my money back; this year I am an in-state student with enough financial aid to cover school and most of my living expenses.
--Last year I was still apartment hunting and then moving during the semester. This meant both a 3-hr-round-trip commute to classes each day until I found the apartment, and then finding time to pack and move during school. This had a negative effect on my studies to say the least. This year I was already completely moved in and set up before classes started.
--Last year I was in a long-distance pseudo-relationship with a man slightly lacking in communication; this year I am dating a very positive, energetic, attentive man who, amazingly enough, lives in the same state as me.
--Last year one of my professors had a very thick accent and jumped sporadically from subject-to-subject. Another elderly professor spoke in a tired, monotone voice. So far this semester, all of my professors are entirely coherent and awake. We'll see how this one develops.
--Last year I knew a handful of friends to hang out with, which was not bad, but this year I know more people, which is better.
Also, I have a bike. I mean, c'mon.
AND Jack and I learned how to make sushi last night, which was both fun and delicious. If anyone is interested, I largely used this website:
http://www.imakesushi.com/
Even things that would have been glitches are working in my favor. For example, one of my chemistry classes seems slightly disorganized largely because no one seems to have the book yet, even though we already have assigned reading. I, however, already have the book, because I had started to take this class last semester before I withdrew, and I kept the book in case it was the same one again this year. And it is. So I'm set. Woot.
My apartment is located downhill from campus, which means biking to campus is a bit of a workout and something I really need to get used to. However it also means that biking from campus, when I am already slightly elated at classes being over for the day, is basically a free-fall to my apartment. It's so much fun. I think the joy of doing that is directly contributing to my incredibly good moods by the time I get home. Hopefully that optimism will last throughout the semester, although I imagine it will make rainy days more gloomy than they normally would be, because I'll have to take buses.
:-)
