So the slacker came to class today with a skit for us to do before our presentation. I was in the middle of setting up the slide show, and the other girls were busy getting their content and activities ready. She handed out folders to each of us with our lines... 15 minutes before we were due to present! She had even brought props and costumes and everything. One of the more assertive girls basically said, "Yeah, thanks, but... no." You could see how deflated she was, but I was a little glad (horrible, I know!) that she had actually done some work even if we weren't going to use it. In the end I had to do her slide content for her because she neglected to email me. Again.

Anyway I had spent a solid hour last night before bed rehearsing my slide content and how I would introduce it. This preparation is a first for me, normally I get so consumed with the presentation that I forget to actually practice what I am going to say! So I talked to myself in the mirror and told me all about unions. I have to say, I felt super self-conscious at the beginning but what a difference it made! Usually during presentations, I get red and sweaty and experience involuntary GI contractions. Man, today I was absolutely rocking the presentation. Coupled with the other two girls, the three of us really knew our shit and pretty much blew the prof's mind. Or, that was the general impression we got. I'll take it!

We gave ourselves 10/10 on the self-evaluation (even the slacker gave herself 10, but... meh) and for once I really felt like I deserved it. I am so glad that we are done. I think we set the bar pretty high, and that's all I wanted. We will know our mark later this week, hopefully.

In other news, my English Lit. prof is ghastly. I love to read, write, and understand literature, but this class is bringing back awful memories about why I hated English in high school. Honestly, who cares what your interpretation of a story's theme is, or style techniques that you perceive the author used? I often wonder, what if the authors wrote their stories with absolutely NO UNDERLYING THEME and just meant for them to be a story? Why does the author have to be "arguing a point" in everything? It's also a little sketchy because she, like, over-reads into a piece and finds all these little nuances that no one else can see. I just kind of mentally check out at the door - the class is seriously a waste of time. Especially because it seems highly irrelevant to nursing! I can just picture myself 10 years from now, starting an IV or drawing up a syringe and thinking I wonder what the central theme is to that memo that my manager sent out this morning? I should have a look for any uses of imagery, irony, or perhaps foreshadowing that we will work yet another week short-staffed. Yes, this class is definitely worth paying tuition... *cough*

Anyway, I popped my presentation up on Youtube if you want to have a look. Because I'm in copyright v. fair use paranoia, you can find the references for the content below. The video at the beginning has Woody Guthrie's "Union Maid" playing, which is a folksy bluegrass-type song. It didn't upload because of the DRM protection, but it's there on the real thing :) Let me know what you think.

References available upon request :)