Mood of the Moment: Finals Season

"Non Stop Ultimate Pumping" by Steven Meisel

It's one of those indescribable feelings. No, it is not falling in love nor is it the satisfaction of giving mean people their "just desserts." It's called I-finally-finished-my-finals-in-my-hardest-semester feeling! And, oh, does it feel so sweet!

Although I feel exuberant, I'm going to be honest that I feel bummed about my Finance final. The exam's difficulty was average but some questions just threw me off. Though, I'm confident with the calculations so I should be fine. Meanwhile, the final for S.O.M. or Systems and Operations Management was a real S.O.B. There were five questions which was a combination of short answers and calculations. I was fairly confident from questions 1-4, but once I hit 5, things just fell apart. My professor has this reputation of disgruntling students by giving exam questions that are totally uncalled for. Alas, this was the case (though in my head I was defending him because he was really nice to me--too bad it's just a guise!) and I loathe him for that.

He introduced me to the men's locker room (where, apparently, it's perfectly fine to dangle one's dongles)!

Still, it wasn't all negative. My friend, JD, was planning to work out to vent his frustrations at a dumbbell. I decided to go with him since I, too, am in desperate need of unleashing my own set of dissatisfactions. JD, being more knowledgeable of the gym world, gave me a tour of 24 Hour Fitness. He introduced me to the men's locker room (where, apparently, it's perfectly fine to dangle one's dongles), and to a couple of heavy-duty equipment. JD's very focused on strength training--which I am not--so he let me do a couple of reps. It was really nice of him to coach me along the way because who knows what I'll end up doing to myself. I eventually had so much fun just hanging out with him and getting a whiff of his interests.

I should mention that his regimen of workouts is pretty intense. I am not used to weights so it's definitely an experience, and I'm proud to say that I survived this ordeal with both arms still intact (goodness, this one exercise where I squat 90 degrees, lean against the wall whilst carrying 15-pound weights on both hands, and pulling them weights above my cranium is a real killer). As a reward, he gave me an enchanting tour of the steam room! Let's just say that it's a room literally filled with steam. The air was so thick that it felt like I was in Jupiter's atmosphere; I was gasping for air while maintaining my composure but I eventually got accustomed to it that we ended up having a civil conversation amidst the unruly mists.

Anyway, back to why I feel amazing: You know those people that say exercising makes people happy? Guess what, they're right and their claim's scientifically proven (because of endorphins)! I believe in it because right after the workout, I felt so light and carefree (and slightly numb) that I even had the bravado to say "Hi!" to the bus driver! It's one thing to nod my head and acknowledge the bus driver's existence but I gave the man a complete "Hi!" He, on the other hand, gave me a "Xie xie." I believe he got the impression I was Chinese.