This week has been refreshingly invigorating and motivating on an onward and upward slope. I have several things to share.

First off, I’m really struggling in school. My problem is that in high school, I never had to study. I would retain enough info to pass my tests. I literally don’t know how to study, and that doesn’t fly at a university. I sit down, skim over my notes, get overwhelmed, and then I’m done. Leave some tips in the comments! I’m getting the hang of it, though. I have good ideas as to what I need to do, but now it’s buckling down and doing them. Plus, finding time will be tricky.

I work at the library on campus. I originally got the job because I thought I could just do homework. That is not the case. But lately, our library decided to clear out one of our rooms and open it as some kind of exploring room. I don’t really understand it, but I think it’s an online college (not Boise State) that will take over this room in helping patrons explore different fields they might be interested in as they relate to science and technology. 80% sure that was a lie, but it could pan out the way I remember it. Anyway, that room was full of micro-fiche, which are old newspapers, etc printed on translucent film. You throw it in a machine that looks like a microscope and voila – an outdated PDF! So to make room for this new venture, we’re getting rid of the micro-fiche…all of it. And the library wants to be environmentally friendly, so we’re recycling it all. For us peons, that means sitting down for hours and “husking” the film out of their paper envelopes, separating and recycling. Anyway, I put on my charm and got my boss to let me use headphones. Then I turned up the charisma even more and got him to let me have my laptop on to watch videos. Corden, my hipster of a roomie, showed me this video that obviously caught my attention. It’s called Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became The Real ‘Iron Man’. It’s amazing. He’s my real Tony Stark role model! Interestingly enough, Robert Downey, Jr. on his Reddit “Ask Me Anything” replied to a fan saying that if he got to spend more time with anyone, that it’d be Elon Musk. The seed was planted. Then when Corden presented me with this video, I saved it in the back of my head until I would later get paid to perform menial labor while getting my brain flowing with all sorts of new ideas. Elon Musk sold his first company, Zip2, at the age of 28, became a millionaire, then started and sold PayPal. Now he is the CEO of Tesla Motors, SpaceX (his personal venture to Mars), and Solar City. Very much worth checking out. If Steve Jobs was of any interest to you when it came to futurism and the advancement of technology, Elon Musk is your man. Another worthy mention is Elon Musk: 5 Areas That Will Have the Most Important Effect on Humanity.

I also started listening to The Richest Man in Babylon while “husking” the micro-fiche. It will take 5 hours to finish, but that’s easy with the task at hand. I need to be better at managing my expenses. I’m excited to implement saving 10% of my earnings and living off the 90%. I’m really good at preparing myself to make good decisions, but I’m balancing so much right now, I feel like I don’t get anything on my list done. But figuring out expenses will cut a lot of the college-related stress.

ROTC has been super cool. The week before last, we went to Gowen Field (the military base shared by the National Guard and the Idaho Air Guard near the Boise Airport) and worked on some obstacle courses. They weren’t you’re typical barbed wire crawling in mud courses, but rather problem solving and working as a team. This past week, we re-learned how to tie the Swiss seat harness, then hooked onto a rope bridge we had stretched taught across the Boise River and shimmied across. Sick!

Per usual, I never know what I want to do. Of course, I’m going to be Tony Stark, but the problem is that everything interests me and I feel like it’s derailing me from my end goal. I want to be an engineer, I want to own my own company, I’d like to learn programming, I want to work in Germany, I love art, etc. My dilemma precisely. So right now, I am double-majoring in German and Mechanical Engineering, double-minoring in Military Science (ROTC) and Industrial Engineering, and earning a Certificate of Technical Communication. Where will business fit in, you ask? Well, I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I plan on getting an MBA and a Masters in some sort of engineering, but I’m wondering if I can work business in now. I’d love to start a company while I’m in school. I guess that’s what’s so cool about the future. It’s always so suspenseful!