Next exam is on Monday, Social Science Research Methods for Management, so lets give it a goooooooo.

Officially 3 weeks until my venture back to the homeland as of yesterday, so now it’s 2 weeks and 6 days which is even more weird. As each day goes by, my heart jumps with the prospect of coming home to everything that is America, but sinks a little with the thought of leaving my life in London. I don’t quite know how to feel about it. When I figure out the words, I’ll let you know.

On the bright side, literally, the weather is AMAZING and it makes me so happy.

That is all.

2 weeks and 2 days until exam hell is over. For the next 8 days I will be concluding revision for all courses. My exam schedule is really annoying because I have so little time in between each to study.

May 17-24 will be cram time. I’m going to try to be as far from communication as possible. As I wrote in an earlier post, my exams are on the 25, 28, 30 and 1. The two days that fall between the Macro exam and Research Methods will be devoted to Micro and Research Methods cramming. Once Research Methods is done, I have one day for Social Policy outlining for essays. The next day will be final cramming for Micro and the first day of June will be the Micro exam.

June 1 will be the end and the start of a simultaneously happy and depressing two weeks until home. I don’t plan packing honestly until the day or two before I fly home because I see it as a waste of time. Maybe I will pack a little but every night before I go to bed.

2 weeks Kerry, that is all you need to do. Push harder for two weeks and then you can relax.

The man to thank: Senator Peter S. Brunstetter (Rep) of Forsyth County, the primary sponsor for Senate Bill 514 in the “Defense of Marriage.”

Human rights: fundamental rights, especially those believed to belong to an individual and in whose exercise a government may not interfere, as the rights to speak, associate, work, etc.

Apparently Senator Brunstetter does not understand this meaning. But then again, it appears that over 60% of North Carolina voters (at least from the 2 million out of 6 million NC voters that cast a vote) agree with him.

It is no coincidence that the map of counties in North Carolina that voted against Amendment One has a direct correlation to the location of the best universities in the state.

When comparing the percentage of individuals that have earned a bachelor’s degree to their area of residence, there is also a strong correlation.

Is this showing a problem with public education in North Carolina or just the sheer ignorance of 61% of the voters in our state. Of course, a great deal of those that voted for Amendment One did so for religious reasons that should not be discounted. Some of the religious reasons which have been manipulated and dictated by what some might call “crazy preachers.” I am in no way trying to tear down the ideals of religion; I am religious myself, but there is a reason that there is an intended separation between the Church and the State.

Just because you have a religious belief does NOT give you the political right to impose your beliefs on others.

For those of you that voted in favor of Amendment One, you have voted to strip rights from not only homosexual couples by banning gay marriage, but you have also taken away rights from heterosexual couples by invalidating domestic partnerships and civil unions. Amendment One affects children, unmarried couples, and the elderly as well.

It is misinformation that will be the downfall of our society. Bigotry and hatred will be the downfall of our society. Continued discrimination will be the downfall of us all.

There will always be differing opinions about every issue known to man. There will always be two sides to every option and always the few undecided who choose not to get involved. When it comes to Constitutional Amendments, there is a bigger issue at hand. The issue of the rights of your fellow citizens of the state lies in our own hands. When this situation arises, it is our responsibility to put aside our personal and religious beliefs for the betterment of humanity.

It is our human duty and responsibility to others that should hold power when it comes to dictating human rights.

It is our time to show the State what we are made of. For those of us that are Against Amendment One, we have an opportunity to educate those in our state that did not even know what the amendment was even about. We can talk to the people who are in favor of the amendment and encourage them to see that it is unconstitutional. We can fight the system.

North Carolina: a state that allows first cousin marriage but bans gay marriage.

This WILL change.

Repeal Amendment One.

I’ll see you on June 15, North Carolina, and you better believe I’m up for a fight.

–Kerry

For starters, I understand the religious debate. There was even some debate going on after I posted a facebook status about voting against. What people need to understand is that gay marriage is already illegal in North Carolina, so a vote in favor of Amendment One is not affirming that you don’t approve of gay marriage. Adversely, a vote against Amendment One does not legalize gay marriage.

The amendment reads:
Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized by this State.

There are four key words here.

ONLY DOMESTIC LEGAL UNION

This is where the difference lies between those who are against amendment one and those who do not understand what amendment one really means.

This means that all other relationships, including civil unions and domestic partnerships, will not be recognized legally. This has many effects on people, including children, whether they be gay or straight.

If you are looking at amendment one from strictly a religious standpoint, I understand how you could be thinking differently about this issue. I respect your beliefs. You have every right to believe what you would like, but just because you believe something differently in respect to religion does not mean that you have the legal right to impose your beliefs on other people. Amendment One will TAKE AWAY rights from families in North Carolina.

If you’re apathetic, vote against; the North Carolina constitution will not change.

If you don’t understand what amendment one will do, vote against.vote against.

Amendment one is unconstitutional.

You can find more information at the Vote Against facebook page.

Protect ALL NC families.

It is May 8 and it is now time to use your voice.

Vote AGAINST Amendment One.

My exam schedule is as follows:

EC210 Macroeconomic Principles 25-MAY-12 10:00
MN203 Social Science Research Methods for Management 28-MAY-12 10:00
SA221 Poverty, Social Exclusion and Social Change 30-MAY-12 14:30
MN201 Economics for Management 01-JUN-12 14:30

Technically I’m already 25% done with my Social Policy grade because the essay I stayed in the library all night to finalise is worth 1/4 of my final. Really only a week left of extra lectures and revision classes.

As the time dwindles down SO QUICKLY, I don’t want to look back at the year just yet. I know that come June 1 I will turn into an emotional wreck for the 2 weeks left in London before I come home. So I’ll quit being sappy and head off to the lib.

See you on the 2nd floor!

I don’t know what I want out of anything really. I posted a couple of weeks ago about organising things regarding school and post graduate work/school and such and I have a plan. Be prepared for my life to turn hermit style.

6 weeks until exams… Other than the Harry Potter Studio Tour on the 19th, The Dangerous Summer show on the 26th, Hillsong Colour Conference on the 26-29 and Tough Mudder on the 12th of May, I plan on doing nothing but studying with all of my time. And training, of course, for the impending doom of TM.

Immediately following exams (June 1 at 13:00) I plan on spending as much time as possible with the friends I won’t be able to see for a while, you know who you are. LSERC does Paintball? We’ll see how I survive that one. Throw in Thorpe Park and I’ll be a happy camper. That is, until the day I leave when I’ll be crying like a baby. I love you guyyysssssss.

9 weeks exactly until flying back to the home land of good ‘ol North Cackalacky. I expect a BBQ Tray with fries, chicken nuggets with honey mustard and a Cheerwine float from Cookout upon my return from the person that picks me up from RDU. Please and thank you.

The following 12 days will consist of ridiculous amounts of fast food (Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Bojangles, Cookout, Panera, Moes, Chic-fil-A, etc etc) and lots of kitten snuggling with Kate. Perhaps some tennis matches and a couple of rounds of golf during the day after baking cookies and cakes and brownies and anything else I can create from the lovely kitchen on Knollwood House.

July 1 marks the voyage to Miami for my summer internship while living with Papa Joe in his new crib. Work work work, row row row, sleep sleep sleep. Flip work and row depending on schedules and then repeat.

During this time, GMAT practice class must be in effect. 180 hours I believe? I’m not too sure about that, but it’s definitely going to be 2 days of class per week up until the start of fall semester. Hooray Grad School! That’s not sarcastic, I am genuinely excited.

Latest August or middle of August, move into the new place of residence that will hopefully be awesome, though I’m just glad I have a kitchen. Last semester of college to take place until mid December made up of Business Finance, Business Communications, Sports Econ, Health Econ, and Ethics of Business.

Post grad applications for the first round are due between October 6 and 12, which means GMAT has to be taken mid September and essays need to be done between then, which is where I’ll be devoting the majority of my time.

Providing I get accepted into the next round of any of the schools I apply for, interviews will most likely happen in this time frame as well.

Graduate.

NYC FOR MAGGIE’S 21st! Or maybe just CT, but definitely a trip to NYC.

As for now, I am sitting in a hostel in Amsterdam pondering what I actually want to do. My guy instinct is telling me to spend a bunch of money on canal cruises and food, but all i really want to do is drink coffee and study a bit. I tend to absorb material better in foreign places so I am going to try to find some coffee shop to sit in and study for a while.

Bring it on 2012, I’m gonna kick your butt.

If you still have that judgement after knowing ALL of the information then again, that’s your perogative. But do not spread motions against the campaign and Invisible Children until you have searched for all of the information. Making uneducated decisions based off of a fad is never a good idea. When it comes down to the KONY 2012 campaign, we all need to look at the bigger picture. The viral video (Part 1) that was released on March 5, 2012 and at the moment has 87,079,745 views.

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” -Anonymous

If you do not think that Kony can be brought to justice, step out of the way of the people who are dedicating to bringing the world’s worst war criminal down. There will always be critics, haters and trolls who are determined to frustrate and act against the dedicated activists.

But what I have to say to the members of Invisible Children and supporters from around the globe is, keep it up! Cover the Night is only 2 weeks away and we have the chance to show the world how passionate we are about social change. I’m so proud of all of the work being done and all of the support behind the campaign.

To anyone that does not support Kony 2012 for whatever your reason may be, let those who want to make a difference make it. Friendly debate is always acceptable, but trashing a campaign and an organisation for something that they are passionate about is ridiculous.

Watch KONY 2012 Part II: Beyond Famous

BRIGHT AND EARLY on Friday 9 March, the LSERC were headed to Toulouse, France to compete in an invitational regatta called Supaerowing. It was relatively easy to wake up at 4 am, given I hadn’t really gone to sleep at all after going to an LMFAO concert at Shepherd’s Bush Empire with Caroline and Pelayo. The weekend of exhaustion was also led up to by AU Ball on Wednesday that surely took a lot of energy out of all of us. Dressed to the nines, we had a good evening.

But back to Toulouse… We all thought it would be a better idea to get to Toulouse in the morning so we could explore the city. Thank goodness for our native (and foreign) French speakers that carried the ones who have no ability to speak French through the weekend. Jean served as our tour guide, even though he had never been to Toulouse either. It worked out well in the end, as we managed to survive metro rides and navigate our way to the city centre from the Supaero campus. I had the most amazing Brie baguette of all time for lunch and we couldn’t help but bask in the sunlight that we are so deprived of at home.

After wandering around for a bit, we made our way back to the Gymnasium, or the Ice Chest as I like to call it. We were to be sleeping in a gymnasium with no insulation and no heating on military cots! We had expected this, but were nowhere near prepared for the cold night ahead of us. I think we went out that night, back in Toulouse but I don’t remember exactly what we did. I know quite a few of us were exhausted and couldn’t be asked to stay out very late given we had to leave at 7am to row the next morning.

The hilarity of the “Pink Guys”, a poly that wore pink 80% of the time because it was their school colours, was insane. They were chanting for hours, in French of course, and battling other schools to chant as well. I believe it was when Jean and some other LSE rowers came back and Jean’s billowing voice started our chant “I want to be an LSE rower” and concluded it with “NOW SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP” that everyone finally went to sleep. Though the sleep was not great, given most of us only had one blanket as covering and were shivering with 5 layers of clothing on (I wore everything I brought in my suitcase).

But we were up bright and early at 6:45 to eat as many pain au chocolat’s as we could possibly consume. The women’s race was up first so we were in the first bus out to the boat house. Because we had traveled from London and clearly did not bring our own boat, we had to borrow boats from the home crew. We got the short end of the stick compared to the guys who got a boat that we deemed better than our normal racing boat. Someone joked and said it was a 1974 Oxford Boat. No matter what it was, this GIGANTIC wood boat had no shoes on the foot plates. Instead, it had velcro straps that were to hold your feet on two pieces of wood that were bent to somehow fit the arch of your foot. I hadn’t anticipated rowing with shoes on, so I only brought my Converse which posed an incredibly awkward rowing situation.

The first race we had was 1000m and we were far from prepared. We had no time to practice race starts AT ALL and were very mixed up when it came to the actual race. We survived, though we rowed pretty awfully in my opinion. Then we rowed back to the boat house where we launched our boat. LITTLE DID WE KNOW, we weren’t supposed to dock at that boat house but at the makeshift boathouse up the river where all of the racing boats were being held. This made for a stressful row up to the crowd.

Luckily, another crew was going to hot seat the boat so we didn’t have to lift it out of the water because that boat was so heavy we couldn’t pick it up by ourselves. The guys were up to race next and I thought they rowed superbly. Best I’ve seen them row collectively all year. I wish I knew what the times were, but all I know is that they rowed really well. There were so many men’s crews that it was a tough bet to get into the finals for the afternoon. But we made it to the finals because there were 6 women’s eights! Woooo THANK GOODNESS we convinced the organisers to let us use the boat that the guy’s used because it made an incredible difference.

Even though the shoes in that boat were MASSIVE, it was so much nicer to row knowing that your feet would stay in the same place and not slip out of velcro. We paddled up to the start for the 1000m finals and were determined to row better than we had in the morning. Since we still clearly had no race start, we practiced on the way down with just starting from 3/4 slide and then immediately into full slides. It worked for us as we started the race but about 15 strokes in, our bow caught a crab and we were dead in the water for somewhere around 15 seconds. Once she got her oar out we were rowing as hard as we possibly could to catch up. We even overtook one of the other crews we were racing against! We were all so proud after that.

I DON’T EVEN WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE BUS RIDE BACK TO CAMPUS. If you don’t know already and you would like to know, ask me and I will go into great detail and show you funny videos. CRAZY.

That night we had an amazing dinner by Sodexo (Megan you’ll know why it’s so ironic) that consisted of duck, wine, assorted cheeses, cakes, salads and pretty much anything else you can think of. Accompanied by our dinner was glorious banter among the crews in the room. They were all speaking in French and I couldn’t understand any of it, but we gained respect by attempting to chant in french according to what Jean told us to say hahaha. We hung out with the frenchies later that night and went back into Toulouse before coming back to go to sleep. Before sleeping, I was talking to some of the pink guys and they were trying to teach me things to say in French. All I learned was “je très froid” (don’t know how to spell in French either) for “I am very cold” because it was FREEZING outside. When John and Caroline came back, we decided to move our cots into the hallway adjacent to the gym that had radiators lining the walls. It was the greatest decision we made all weekend. Even though the pink guys crawled into the gymnasium and jumped up chanting and playing instruments at 5 am, I was sound asleep next to a radiator .

The next morning we had more pain au chocolat at 6:45 and made our way back to the hill to race again. It was the 500m race day and there were no finals, so it was all or nothing. The boys went off first and we had a different boat that day that had a messed up rudder. It unfortunately threw the guys for a loop and made the race really difficult. We hot seated their boat and made our way out to the start line, racing against only one other crew. We were PUMPED off of how well we did in the 2nd race on Saturday that we wanted to do well in the 500m. We rowed hard and strong and did really well in the 500m. We were all just happy that we rowed the sprint successfully and in time after no practices with each other. We were in line to get out at the dock when someone started screaming at us in French that we were supposed to row down the river to the boat house that we started at the previous morning. IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING. We didn’t have our shoes in the boat and were wearing nothing but onesies and light clothing. We looked at it as the opportunity to row for a bit longer on the gorgeously clear water in Toulouse and to bake in the sun. It was such a different experience than rowing on the Thames.

Once we got to that boat house, though, there was no one there to help us take the boat out! Superman came to save us and the quad crew that ultimately won every race they took part in over the weekend. The four guys took the boat out without our help at all, which was amazing, and put it on trestles. We washed the boat and then had to walk alllllllllllllllll the way back to where everyone else was. It took quite a while, but we were all in a good mood so it wasn’t that bad.

The results event caused more confusion for me, BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW FRENCH, but it was still entertaining. Most of the guys left and went to a pub to watch Rugby, but we stayed to watch people get medals and trophies. When they were calling out the women’s winners, we knew we didn’t do well during the 1000m races and we didn’t expect anything. But when he called out the 500m finishes, we got 3rd! BRONZE MEDALS! We were too excited. The pink guys helped us out and started the “Ba da ba da ba da ba ba ba da” and then we took cute pictures and all was grand in the land of Toulouse. We got off stage and then were called back on stage for what we later learned was because the guys had the most ridiculous way of putting the boat in the water off of the dock. I have to say, it was pretty hilarious. But we got an awesome chocolate trophy that was absolutely delicious.

Banter, banter, banter we made our way to the airport and decided to rock the onesies on the plane as you can see here. Flew home and passed out for numerous hours to recover from the previous week.

All in all, it was a splendid weekend that created amazing memories and hilarious banter.

<3

I still have no answer to that, though I’ve gradually been coming up with some options. I will not divulge any of that information in fear of jinxing any possible outlet, but know that I’m working on it.

Right now I am looking up possible Graduate School options (Harvard MBA, UNC MBA), degrees I could achieve, places I think they could take me. I’m becoming a bit overwhelmed with how much I have to do in the next month or so, but hopefully I’ll be able to handle it.

What I DO know, is that I need to train harder for Tough Mudder. May 12 is rapidly approaching and I have quite a bit of strength training and distance running to do. I can’t wait to run 12 miles and complete 25 obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?

FEEL FREE to come out to the Southeast/Midlands Tough Mudder on May 12 to support me and my team MATT DAMON and watch us completely destroy ourselves for 4 hours on a lovely Saturday afternoon!