Author: Bree Fujino

My biggest distraction like many others, I assume is the waiting for the term to FINALLY be over. I admit, this was a rough 10 weeks for me. I went through many ups and downs and all I can think about is being home. In the beginning I was not to keen on going home because the prices to travel to Hawaii is ridiculous this lovely time of year, but now that I am going I’m excited. One never realizes how much they miss their family until seeing them gets so close, especially for my favorite holiday of all time, Christmas. I have two papers to write and a chemistry final to study for but my brain is slowly turning itself off– it is already on vacation mode. I dream about what it will feel like to turn in my final exam, submit my final papers, and actually breathe for once. This term has been stressful and I am more than ready for it to be over, home is calling me. Home is both a positive and negative distraction because at times when I am trying to read a book I am thinking about the salty sea water, what my christmas tree will smell like, the local food I will finally be eating, and everything but what I am trying to comprehend (negative). On the other hand, it is positive because it is motivating me to do my best, this is the final push and I can get through it! (positive) Like everyone else struggling to get through finals, we all just want to go home and have time to ourselves. It may be the most mediocre thing but I am extremely excited to just lay in bed and watch Christmas movies all day long without feeling guilty for doing so or feeling like I need to be calculating the pH of [OH-]. I never thought I’d be excited to feel the deathly humidity of Kona air again but I am so ready. As I’m sitting in the library writing this blog I am constantly telling myself not to think so much about home and to focus, it will be difficult but I know I can do it—more like I have no other choice. Happy Finals all!

The beginning of the week felt like it took years to end. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were the longest days of my life because I was anxiously anticipating seeing my family for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was even more painful because I was constantly studying for both my Chemistry midterm and my final quiz in Sociology. We all know that time drags on when you’re studying and especially when you’re waiting for the fun to begin! I was supposed to be figuring out the differences between acids and bases when all I could think about was the stuffed golden bird that I would soon be feasting on. Just imagining the different smells of the Thanksgiving holiday was invading my senses and making me absolutely crazy! I could not wait for that 5:00 bus to take me to Portland so I could finally be in the arms of my loving family. Thanksgiving was a major distraction for me because it seems kind of like a tease, only 5 days long when all we really want to do is be on Christmas vacation! I found the hype of going to Portland one of the biggest distractions yet because I would be constantly getting videos of my niece saying that she was excited to see me and of course that made me even more excited/distracted! I was studying in my room for a good two hours and then my phone rang– my cousin was on the phone telling me all of the fun events that we would be doing this weekend like Thanksgiving dinner at my Tutu’s, my niece’s 3rd birthday party, going to a tree lighting ceremony and that was it. There was no more studying for me because my brain was already on vacation! I was supposed to be reading Foucault but all I was doing was thinking about the crackle of the fire, the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven, the look on my niece’s face when she finally opened her Monster High present from me, the smell of the beautiful Christmas tree and the love of my family. There was no turning back now. Eventually, I summed it up to the fact that I needed to take a break and then study later which was so much more helpful. My brain needed a rest and after an hour of relaxing I was good to go again, I finished Foucault, got the gist of acids and bases and am as happy as can be! Happy Thanksgiving!

I am from Hawaii and lately it is all I can think about. With finals so close all that is on my mind is being in the warm Kona sun and the welcoming arms of my loved ones once again. It appears that I am a wee bit homesick and stressed out. I do not know about anyone else but a nice home cooked meal is always one of the most comforting things when everything around you is getting stressful. I have so many things to do and all I want is to be back home in my king sized bed with my mom and dad only a few steps away from me. With the second round of midterms starting and then finals right around the corner, I am incredibly stressed. I do not think my poor little brain can handle any more information but I guess it will have to. In order to motivate myself I like to keep my hat from home right on my desk as a reminder that I am so close to the end and I just have to push through because Hawaii Nei is awaiting me. Hawaii is so distracting because it seems wherever I go I see something that reminds me of home. Whether it is a local shirt, a mother going out to lunch with her daughter, or even my professor who casually talks about Hawaii every time I go to office hours; I cannot escape! For example, I met with my friend who is also from Hawaii and we got to talking about everything about home and I didn’t tell her but after I got home I cried. By seeing all these things and talking about home all the time it makes me miss it even more. I miss the aloha spirit, my crazy family, the warm, soft, yet gritty sand beneath my toes, the best Poke bowl in town (a local food), and most of all, being stress free. Even though it is only a few weeks away it feels like I have an eternity more to go. Home is my biggest distraction because what college student would not want to be going home and away from the stressful college life? I am distracted by the many things that remind me of home but I do think that it is a positive distraction. It seems to motivate me to want to push harder and get things done. I think it is time to put home on the back burner and hit the books and maybe, just maybe, eternity will feel a little bit shorter. I am coming for you Kona, slowly but surely.

This week has literately felt like the longest week for me because my family is finally coming to visit! I have been so preoccupied with trying to figure out what kind of fun things that we could do as a family in Eugene (especially since they have not been here before) that I was neglecting my Sociology class. I had a reading response to do yet I was looking up the family event guide for Lane County on my laptop. You could say that I was thinking way ahead in time. It is now Thursday and they come tomorrow afternoon, I’m ecstatic! My family coming is both a distraction and a reward for me so there is the positive side in this whole ordeal. Them coming is a reward because I studied extremely hard for my Chemistry quiz and was so happy with the turn out. It was the highest grade that I received on a quiz, yet! It is also a distraction because we just recently found out about our close reading assignment for this class so now I am worried that I will not have as much time as I’d like to work on it. It is now 8:30 pm and I’m sitting in the Knight Library trying as hard as I possibly can to get all the things that I need to get done, done but unfortunately I am so distracted because my cousin keeps texting me about all the fun things she has planned for this weekend, the excitement is unreal. After 15 minutes or so I finally told her that I needed to focus and that I’ll talk to her tomorrow (distraction semi solved). I am now focusing on catching up in Colt and working on my midterm, best of luck to me!

Lately, I have been obsessed with this beautiful holiday season. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and I am so excited for it to arrive. More than just the joyous season I cannot wait until this term is over. I am more than ready for a break and that is all I can think about. I should be burying my head in my books and buckling down but I cannot get the idea of being back home in Hawaii for the holidays out of my head. All I can think about is that sweet smelling Douglas Fir in my living room. I love this season and all it’s perks, who doesn’t? Christmas is a major distraction right now. Last night my roommates and I decided that we were going to do secret santa, which had me jumping up and down like a little kid because I was so excited. It was the worst time for them to decide to do secret santa because I was supposed to be catching up in this class. I just thought, I can do it tomorrow since I do not have class until 2 (which I did but that is beside the point). We each picked our person and immediately I went online to go shopping (my favorite kind of shopping). When I was supposed to be reading Paris Spleen I was browsing Forever 21’s gift guide, bad idea. Christmas is a huge distraction for me but secretly I LOVE IT. The one positive point in this whole ordeal is that Christmas just boosts my spirits when midterms was really pulling me down. I feel happier and I am really beginning to get into the spirit of the holidays hopefully in the spirit of testing too. I know I need to focus on my schooling because there is only 3 more short weeks before I can go Christmas crazy!

Lately, I have been distracted with Nike shoes. Sometimes, when I am talking to others I find myself saying that our school should just be called Nike University because that is literately all I see! (Thank you Phil Knight) I always find myself looking at the ground when I walk so it is only natural that I look at people’s shoes and all I see is NIKE. It is unusual to see someone wearing a New Balance shoe. It is the hype and we are addicted, at least I know I am. I’ve been more concerned with making sure that I perfect my design of my very own Nike shoes which leads me to being unproductive with my schooling. I’m craving the synthetic rubber shoe with the thick white lip with hot pink swoosh: the Roshe. I have not been more excited for running shoes in so long. You’d never think that shoes or materialistic things could be a distraction but it is. I was on my way to class, eyes down and on a mission, so I thought…and then all of a sudden I saw the pair of Nike shoes that I wanted! It confused me because I was in the process of designing my very own pair, but there they were right in front of my eyes on the lawn next to the Knight Library. I was mesmerized. All I could do was stop and stare. Distraction? Yes. The owner of the shoe was looking at me like I was crazy and gave me the eye of “What are you staring at?” Immediately I said, “I’m so sorry! I was staring at your shoes, I was going to order the exact pair!” And then she began to tell me how much she adored them and then we got to talking for a good 10 minutes. Ten minutes was all it took to make me late to my first class. I would have never thought that shoes would distract me to the point of making me late but the unproductive part of me still thinks that it was worth it because they were just so beautiful. I have come to the conclusion that from now on I will look up because if I see another pair of Nike Roshe shoes I will go crazy and then my professor will not be happy with me!

New trends are an absolute must in our society. There are always new things on the market and most people always want bigger and better. However, I am a coffee-a-holic and even though I have always been reluctant to try new flavors because I’m always scared that I won’t like what I get and feel like I wasted my money. After years of sticking with the same old drink I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and try the wonderful and decadent Starbucks: Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was literately life changing (as I’m sipping on it right now as I type this post). All my life, I drank caramel mocha latte’s and I love them so much, I guess everyone has their specific taste and that was mine. Until that cold winter morning I was debating what I wanted and Starbucks was giving out free samples of the pumpkin spice latte so I figured why not. I was in love and there is no going back now. It seems absurd that coffee would fit in being a distraction but today it definitely was. While I was sitting with my friend in Chemistry waiting for the professor to begin before class she asked me if I wanted to go to Starbucks with her after, and of course I said yes. It was literately all I could think about. I could not focus on valence electrons and their geometric figures because all I could think of was how my coffee was going to taste. My mind was constantly circling around how wonderful the extra three pumps of pumpkin was going to be; let alone the sweet aroma of roasting coffee. I was so distracted that I had to keep asking questions to actually understand what was going on in the class. We were building the CO2 molecule and all I was building up in my head was my drink. As soon as the clock hit 12:50 I was basically running towards the door, the excitement was unreal. The one positive factor about this is that I now understand what was going on in Chemistry, I have my coffee and I’m slowly getting caught up in my classes. Next time I should remind my friend not to mention coffee because the crazy coffee lady will strike again and we definitely cannot have that!

This week was absolute chaos, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. There was so many things going on that I had to go out and find new expo-pen colors for my white board just to write everything down so I would not miss anything. I just recently rushed Alpha Phi Omega and have been doing my pledge requirements which was extremely distracting now that I think about it. I was constantly checking my pledge page to see what fun and exciting events were posted when I should have been trying to finish reading Fight Club. I had the hardest time finding balance. I was in over my head with things that I had to do. It really is true when people say that there are not enough hours in the day. Part of me wished that I had the good side of Tyler to go out in the night, take control and help me fulfill all of the millions of things that I needed to get done. I could not find balance to save my life. This past weekend I lived and breathed the Knight library and yet I still could not keep up because my mind was always elsewhere, distracted. It felt like I had a million things to do and the hours just flew by. I checked my watch at 12 pm and checked again and it was 6. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday seemed like a blur. All I did was eat, study, and sleep. There was no time for fun until Wednesday night. I was finally content with letting myself go because I had taken two tests and wrote a paper in the span of three consecutive days, I was beat and deserved some fun. So, I went to see SoMo in concert which was absolutely amazing. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, but a huge distraction. After I got home I was still in a trance and I could not focus one bit, all I wanted to do was rewind time and go back to that mind-blowing concert. In the end, I finally found balance and thank goodness I can breathe again. This post seems quite negative but in the end it actually turned positive because I realized that school is not all about stressing and cramming, I need to be able to have fun once in a while because if not I will definitely go crazy. It will be a struggle but I will find the balance I need to keep myself from getting distracted.

My biggest distraction this week is my thoughts. I cannot seem to run away from them. My mind has been a whirlwind of ideas constantly circulating and bugging me at any given time. There are too many things constantly running through my mind (chemistry quiz, Sociology response, math quiz, Fight Club, decorating my room, UO football game, fun, Netflix, math lab, going grocery shopping, attend office hours, go to tutoring) I just can not get away. I find myself drifting away from the topic at hand all the time. For example, when I was reading Fight Club, I began to think about how much reading I have to do to catch up with my Sociology class. My mind is taking over and I am struggling to keep up with all the things that need to be done, but I keep telling myself that in order to fully focus I need to be able to put my mind over matter.
Maybe, I am having these issues because it is the beginning of a new school year; I have no clue, but whatever it is, distracting. I am going to have to write everything that I need to do by this weekend or the beginning of the week on a piece of paper and go from there. If I slowly start to check things off my list I think it will help with not only the focusing issue but the anxiety that I am creating because of the amount of thing that needs to be done. Maybe then, I will be able to finally focus and get back on track with my schooling and outside activities. I just have to say, mind over matter, mind over matter, like a mantra and hopefully it will begin to work and things will be okay once again.

I woke up yesterday with a smile on my face, something quite rare. I went to all of my classes and actually enjoyed them, I do not know if it is because it is only week one but I was happy. After class I went home took a nap and then hit the books. Time went by so quick, I got home at 12:30 and before I knew it was already 6. Never did I have a study day that blew by which was amazing since it extending all the way into the wee hours of the night. And this is where it all goes downhill.
While I was sitting at my desk studying for math, chemistry and hopelessly trying to figuring out how to actually create this blog, I was rudely interrupted. As I’ve said before, I am very easily distracted and one little peep of a bird has me glancing at my window, so you must know that this was detrimental to my focus. A couple of guys were skating up and down the sidewalk and at 11:00 at night when all is quiet so the sound was even louder. The worst part about it was while they were skating they were also yelling at the top of their lungs, which had my blood boiling. So obviously once they were quiet for a good three minutes or so I would get my hopes up and think about all the possibilities about how great it would be if they just left and what I would do if they came back. It then led me to texting my roommate telling her that I’m going to yell at them but I did not want to because I did not want to be “that person.” That in itself was a distraction because I was no longer flipping through the crisp pages of my textbooks but aggressively typing on my phone (which is my number one distraction). After that I gave up because I knew I could not regain my focus back. And just my luck, they left the second I got into bed, turned off my light, and was ready to go to sleep. Funny how the world of distractions are, once you do something to get rid of it rids itself.