Week 7 Spring: Rolling with the Punches: A Week of Challenges, Training, and Unexpected Turns
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
By: Hong Bing Tang March 2nd, 2025
02/24/2025 to 03/02/2025
Introduction:
Hey peeps! I hope you have had a great week. This week was filled with some unexpected hinderances. However, even with the challenge at the end of the week, it was still a good and eventful week for school, running, and being able to get back to our roots. Let’s get into what happened this week!
School:
This week I had my first exam of the year…Can you believe that? I went nearly half the semester without having an exam yet! The exam was in my programming class, and I was a bit worried since that is the class that I have the least understanding in because it is not an engineering course. The exam was supposed to be pretty long; however, it was going to be split up with 3 parts. The first part was taken in class and there were 25 multiple choice questions. The other two parts, once written on paper analyzing an algorithm and one creating an algorithm on java, I was not super worried about since it could spend as much time as I wanted on those parts. I was worried about the in-class part since it was timed, and I really know what to expect for the type of questions that would be on the exam. However, luckily the exam was open note and open book which was good help. On Tuesday, I figured I had done the best I could to be prepared for the exam and decided not to stress anymore and study more since it was open note. When it was exam time, the first question I had was directly in the book and the hardest part was trying to find it. Nearly 50% of the exam was like this. . .and the other half was pretty simple, or we could even get help from the professor. I ended up finishing with a pretty good score and this really reaffirmed that sometimes there is not anything more I could study or stress about. In addition to the exam this week, I have a project due next week. In the project, I must make a digital clock using basic combinational and sequential circuits. I really had no idea how to design this system but after getting some inspiration from online, I was able to create the clock which took a lot of time. However, this process was really rewarding since it showed that I can create simple systems.
Running:
With last week being the last indoor race of our season it was time for a big block of training. I was super excited to get back up to higher mileage and get some good workouts in. In addition to the big block of training, the weather was super nice throughout the week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the weather was so nice it was able to run in shorts and a T-shirt, which was amazing. However, the weather never reached up above 50, which is scary since in a few weeks our team will be traveling to Florida where the weather will be around 80. It seems silly to complain about the weather being nice, however the 40s felt warm which is scary since the 80s will feel blazing.
A Change of Plans:
One Thursday I woke up with a sore throat and when running I felt super tired and sluggish and I was running slower than usual so I should have felt really good. After talking to Jenny, we decided for me to take the next 3 days off to make sure I was completely recovered and to make sure I would not get further sick. I wasn’t too mad about being sick since I always get sick at least once a semester and with our whole guys team getting sick the past couple of weeks it was bound to happen. However, the unfortunate part was I had plans to travel down to Eastern Michigan to watch the women’s MAC championship meet for indoor track with Steve and also spend the night at his place. With being sick these plans were canceled and I was not able to go down. In addition, Sawyer and Nick were invited by Carson to come up for the weekend and I was looking forward to being able to catch up with them, however with getting sick, I was not able to hang out with them ☹Although getting sick stuck a wrench in my plans, I figured that since I was going to be home for the weekend, I could catch up with some of the things that needed to get done.
The Weekend:
Since our dryer broke last week and was finally fixed earlier this week I had a lot of laundry to do so being home this weekend I was able to get all the laundry done that was piling up. In addition, Jessie and I’s 4-month anniversary was coming up and so I made the little gift that I had in mind. I am not a great gift buyer and like to create artist pieces since it gives me the opportunity to be creative and show my appreciation by putting effort into something. This time I decided to create a mason jar holder that has paper flowers I made along with photos of us the past month. It turned out pretty good! The last thing that I did with all the time I had was a combination of homework and consuming media. On Saturday night I watched some WWE with Steve and got to see John Cena and Logan Paul fight. It was funny, but I can’t get over the fact that WWE is so fake. Overall, even with a change of plans I had a good weekend being able to really relax and do the things I wanted to do instead of trying to force myself to do these things.
Conclusion:
Even though this week didn’t go exactly as planned, it reminded me that sometimes, adapting is just as important as pushing forward. From overcoming academic challenges to adjusting my training and making the most of a quiet weekend, I found ways to stay positive and productive. Here’s to taking things in stride and rolling with whatever comes next!
Goals Update!
Journaling: I journaled once this week. It might be nice to do it a little bit more.
Nail biting: I think nail biting is the reason I got sick. This upcoming week I plan to start slow and not bite my right thumb at all this week.
Reading: I finished the Steve Prefontaine book this week.
Phone usage: An average of 2 hours and 7 minutes. I was doing well before I got sick, but when I got sick, I decided to allow myself to scroll too much.
Future: I had a 2nd job interview this week. I think I did well and will send a follow-up interview email this week.
Get in Touch
Got questions or want to chat? Drop a line. I love connecting with new friends!