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St. John the Baptist children collect food, toys, supplies for needy

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Game Night raises funds, awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters

<p>Boy, Mother Nature really messed me up this week.</p><p>I know I complain a lot, and I had a particularly lazy break, but I really was ready to go back to school. I took the obligatory screenshot of my schedule for easy access during the beginning of the semester, and looking over it, I got pretty darn excited. My classes are all interesting. I bought some nice, fresh, clean notebooks and some awesome pens (and nothing gets me more excited than a good pen).</p><p>I find that it is especially hard for me to get back on track after resting for a long period of time. By the time the first day of class was looming, I had prepared myself mentally to be productive, to go to sleep at a decent hour and therefore wake up at a decent hour &#8212; I was with it. I really was.</p><p>My first class of the semester was at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and I was already pretty bummed about that, as it would encourage me to sleep in to the last possible moment. I mean, technically, I could wake up at 12:30 p.m. and still get to class on time. But I resisted the urge.</p><p>I got out of bed pretty early, and planned on doing some organizational kind of work before class time. I showered. I put on makeup, a feat in itself. I put on my coat, and I checked my phone. Classes cancelled.</p><p>Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I was glad to go back to bed, and I was also glad that my fellow commuting students didn&#8217;t have to brave the roads. But jeez, I was ready. I didn&#8217;t think I would be ready, but I really, really was.</p><p>Luckily, one of my professors gave homework regardless, so I was able to keep up my productive energy to a certain extent (I know, that sounds crazy). But having the first day off still set me back a little. It was like break didn&#8217;t end, and in my mind, for the sake of my energy, I needed it to end.</p><p>OK, the next day was Wednesday, and I had a cool philosophy class to go to relatively early in the morning. Time to get psyched.</p><p>I wake up at an ungodly hour, for me, at least. I check my phone, and &#8230; classes are cancelled again.</p><p>I went back to bed, and so continued my disappointing return to laziness. I&#8217;m acting like I didn&#8217;t enjoy it &#8212; I did, but I wanted something that would force me to get into &#8220;work hard, grind all the time&#8221; mode.</p><p>What a way to start my last semester, right? Everything was finally back to normal on Thursday, and I got back on track, thankfully.</p><p>My excitement was renewed; and hey, maybe the anticipation even helped.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Toni Pennello</p><p>tpennello@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Toni Pennello is a Wilkes University senior who works in the Times Leader newsroom.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

College Life: Snow days hamper productive energy early in the semester