Protect Numbing Fingers Foundation

I felt like I could take on the world today. I didn’t play cards with my roommates last night or watch a movie with the hall. My evening was spent in front of my laptop, matching logos with company names and vice versa. I walked into the classroom, anxiously rubbing my hands together as Mark and Reneta passed out the quiz. My past two quizzes weren’t very impressive, but I was certain that this would be the one that I could go home and hang on my fridge or frame in the living room. This would be the quiz.

Except after we handed back our papers, I wasn’t feeling like all too confident. The papers weren’t graded until later that afternoon, but I knew this wouldn’t have the digits I hope for. I couldn’t let myself get carried away with a number I didn’t know yet, so I cracked open my notebook for the upcoming lecture.

We focused on two types of templates today—letter and reports. After taking some notes on the two, we split into two groups. My group experimented with the virtual Hotel game while the other explored Microsoft Word with Mark. After lunch, our two groups switched. I gave myself a mental slap as Mark went over the effective way to write a business report. The knowledge of how to efficiently construct a table of contents page would have been useful when writing the fifteen page research paper for the prosthetic arm competition. My fingers got numb after holding down the period key for ten minutes trying to get the right spacing. This wasn’t the only thing I wish I knew, but apparently word has an entire toolkit to making writing a whole lot easier and prettier. I’m sure this is worth sharing once I get back to the West Coast. I’ll be sure to teach students about Microsoft Word in an effort to protect their fingers from numbing. In addition to saving their fingers, Hercules students will get to show off their Microsoft skills in future competitions.

After the lesson, everyone traveled back to the lecture room where our graded tests awaited. I was naturally nervous when I received my paper. Although I didn’t get the score I wanted, I was satisfied. I was making an improvement and I can’t win all of them. The fridge will just have to wait another day.

Afterwards, it was time to apply what we learned in the computer room. Everyone worked to complete the two templates in the two hour time frame, though most people only finished one. After an exhausting two hours of typing and clicking, everyone made their way to RPCC to end their day with a meal.

Dinner was great. Shanti, Natalie and I sat together and enjoyed luxuriously decorated ice cream. The cold desserts were topped with fudge, waffles and cookies. We admitted that we weren’t making the

best food choices, but our mothers weren’t there to tell us to stop after the third serving. Shanti left early for her dorm to complete her templates. I should have gone with her at the time. When we entered the building, the sky was lightly dotted with clouds, just like the previous days. When I went

Only the top survived. Rest in peace.

back to the dorms, it was pouring. Not small droplets, but enormous globs of water falling from the sky, creating pools at my feet. Wearing tennis shoes, jeans, a tank top and a windbreaker, I wasn’t prepared for this. I knew I had to get back to my dorm to finish the template, so I had to make it through the rain. 

Ithaca rain is horrible. The usual three minute walk felt like an eternity. Twenty paces away from the building and my shoes were already soaked through. The puddles on the ground didn’t do much to help. I was halfway there when my pants were wet. By the time I made it to the door, only my head and shoulders were safe because I draped my windbreaker over my head. While the grades and the templates caught me by surprise, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the weather in Ithaca.

The aftermath. I should have just left at 9' o clock.