Based on my time spent here at Trinity and the number of assignments I have turned in, you would think I had done absolutely nothing since arriving here. The truth is, I have read nearly ten full length books, in addition to poetry and other excerpt readings, but have not had any essays to turn in. For many courses at Trinity, your only assessment is a final paper at the end of the semester. Some courses have final exams as well, but as a visiting student I only need to submit a paper by December 15. During the former part of the semester, this fact made my time feel much more leisurely, as I was just focused on completing the readings assigned to me and, when I could, reading ahead. This made my weekends freer and I could relax, spend time with friends, and even travel! Now, as the end of the semester is looming, I am realizing just how much work I have to do before I leave (similar to how Joey must have felt in this scene).
Because the credit system is different in Ireland and I have to take enough credits to be considered a full time student back at Scripps, I am taking six courses. This means that I have to write six essays by December 15.
As I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, professors have distributed essay topics and even had assignments where we were required to think about our topics and even write an outline for what we wanted to discuss. I have just had another professor do this and I am very grateful to him for it because it will help give me some extra motivation to get a start on some rather daunting deadlines.
While on the topic of looking towards the future, I have started thinking about what I might want to do during summer 2018. Although it seems far off, applications for internships and lab positions are already being posted, many of which are due early next semester. If only applying was as easy as the gif below suggests. 
Because I am a chemistry major, I will need to do research in a lab that I will later write my thesis on. I have found many programs that offer lab positions for undergraduate students that I am interested in, where the next step is to figure out which ones I will apply to. My list is currently very long, so I will need to narrow it down. I found a position through the National Institute for Health that I am particularly interested in, as it focuses on public health, something that I have been interested in learning more about.
My current worry is whether or not that would produce enough hard data for me to write my thesis on it. If not, I have many other options, and may even end up in Claremont to do my research. This is when I am very grateful that I have the advisor I do, as I know he will be supportive in helping me make a decision that best suits my academic interests and future goals. I am also grateful for the other resources that Scripps provides in helping with these sorts of decisions, such as CP&R, which has helped me with internship applications in the past.
If you are worried about summer plans, please know that you have a kindred spirit in me. If you are feeling lost, please don’t hesitate to contact me or the staff at CP&R. That’s what they’re there for, and they are awesome! Cheers to the final weeks!
