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Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and Chrismahanukwanzawhatever  from Student Bloggers!

We will return in the new year with featured blogs, so keep sharing those great holidays stories!

Living in the place where education and bureaucracy meet in the middle at academic mediocrity. [Extraordinary Observations]

The instant transformation from student studying abroad to daughter back home for the holidays (and how NYU prepares parents for the returning expatriates) expressed well by Jess. [Jess and Josh Talk About Stuff] Excerpt:

And then all of the sudden I was eating Chinese food at the dining room table and my sister was talking about field hockey and I was thinking about how I was tired/wanted to get stoned and then everything was back to normal and Paris never happened and I never before had thought in French or shopped at Monoprix or slept with a British doctor or watched the Eiffel Tower loom while taking the 6 train to school.

Jobs are disappearing, salaries are lowering, and the economy is generally not awesome. So Nisha asks, in a recession, should you settle? [Politicoholic]

Tech Dorm Gone Wild? I think I saw that infomercial late night on G4. A profile of one hardcore teched MIT dorm. [Dorm Room Decorating Ideas]

There’s no better way to learn about how mass transit is run than an old fashioned airport camping trip. [Nuts & Boalts]

For those tired of the same Christmas music playing in every mall and radio station, two posts of suggested songs you may or may not have heard: Coffee_girl & Afeitar.

Check out who is running your class’s group on Facebook. It may not be a fellow student, but a data miner. [Wesleying]

Tip link:

• Some easy ways to save money for those in a crappy economy and with a deep-seated aversion to Ramen [Miss Random Bliss]

New blogs added*: waphle (NYU), The Parable of the Trashman (Notre Dame Of Marbel U, Philippines), Extraordinary Observations (John Carroll U)

If you missed out on the Student Bloggers giveaway, you still have a chance to get free tech from good bloggers. Check out College Candy’s Palm Centro contest and tell them SB sent you!

*as of today, new blogs added to the directory will be compiled in an end-of-the-week post rather than in the daily posts.

Senior year of college I was burned out. I had been working on finishing my thesis, applying to jobs for when I graduated, and just generally had had enough of school. Unfortunately, there was still one more final to study for: Modern Ireland. I was also Managing Editor of our school newspaper, and since we were in the midst of transitioning to next year’s team of editors, I had very little down time. Of course, due to the aforementioned burnout, I did not want to spend any of it studying when I could just as easily be spending it drinking and making out with my girlfriend.

The day came for the final, and I showed up with pen and blue book in hand. I don’t remember the exact essay question we were assigned, but I know that it had something to do with the establishment of religion in Ireland and how the Church of England was in conflict with Irish leaders about this. I had very little idea of what to say, but I practically had a B.A. in BS, so I started writing.

I was whizzing along, making stuff up but using lots of big words so it sounded legit, when all of the sudden it came to me. I started talking about those English folks, the establishmentarians, who wanted to impose the Church of England on the Irish as the national religion, then talked about the perspective of the Irish who opposed that—in other words, those who agreed with disestablishmentarianism. You can probably see where this is heading. I put a few more sentences together, and then dropped the bomb: antidisestablishmentarianism. This wasn’t just a hundred dollar word, this was basically a million dollar word, and I was sure it would redeem me for the rest of the garbage I was spewing forth into my essay.

Needless to say, the teacher ate it up, and I pulled off a ‘B+’. Not quite the ‘A’ I was hoping for, but probably two full letter grades higher than I would’ve gotten without my stroke of genius.

My college Biology Professor as a corpulent man who physically resembled Santa but that didn’t make him very jolly. On the last day before exams most teachers would spend time reviewing with the students. Not Dr. X. He told us not to worry about the exam because he would provide the answers to the exam and write them for us on the board. He assured us that he’s spent the semester imparting all the knowledge that we would ever need regarding Biology and if we’d paid attention then we would easily ace the exam.

Being the manic grade conscious student that I was, I set about studying for the exam the night before. I read and reread all the notes I had taken throughout the semester. I felt I was ready for the worse but confident that if Dr. X kept his promise I could expect the best. Exam day began bright and early. Dr. X had covered the boards by pulling down some of his various screens and charts. He promised that after he’d handed out the tests he would reveal ALL the answers we needed to know for the test.

I wrote my name on the scantron and chided myself for having wasted so much time studying for the exam. Obviously he’d kept his promise and I could have spent more time studying for the Economics exam I would take that afternoon. Then came the magic moment Dr. X yanked at the brightly colored chart. It leaped up to show a blackboard with the following printed two inches high: A, B, C, D, T, F. He pointed to the A and said “As you can see I gave you all the answers. Some of the questions can be answered with an A. Some and be answered with a B, and so on. Of course in the True and False section you will find that they will either be answered T or F.” Thank Goodness I studied and by the way ACED the exam.

HP Magic contest recently begun: Last 100, JK on the run, Geek News Central

Nisha’s transition from lurker to blogger and how it changed her life. [Politicoholic]

What your student-librarian is thinking about during her shift in the heart of academe–and it isn’t books. [Lindsay's So-Called Life via Bethany writes.] Exerpt:

When I first took this job at my school’s on campus library I thought to myself, “this should be a fun, calm job where I’ll get all of my homework done and go on my happy way.” One year, 123465543245 websites, and a bazillion annoying patrons later, I find myself thinking, “Wow, I have wasted way to much time here not doing homework and instead procrastinating and wanting to choke dumb people.” So allow me to take you through the many, many nuances of this job as a library employee.

To get us ready to go back to parents and social situations with those pre-Facebook members of our families, a mother’s Christmas request to her tech savvy offspring. [Hack College]

The St. Martins University administration might have just forgot to spell check, but I’m not going anywhere near their icy steps just to be safe. [Home of a Future Starving Artist]

Tip link:

• Thoughts on recharging over winter break. [School is Hard]

Latest HP Magic contests: CiberPrensa, Unión de Bloggers Hispanos

So without further ado. The Student Bloggers winner is… Darien of St. Catherines, Jamaica! I’m very happy to give this package to him to help with his work at the University of Technology, Jamaica as well as one of his fellow students who has helped Darien and other students with their work despite not owning a computer himself.

I will be posting some of the finals stories every other day for the next two weeks or so, and today we have Darien’s story. Enjoy!

When I got to school, I was really dreading this exam as I knew my ‘studying techniques’ were….. insufficient, to say the least. At about 3:30 my friends and I headed for the auditorium to wait (the exam started at 5 pm). After a little while we heard a large explosion and all the lights went out; the transformer blew!

We later found out that a car accident (no injuries) nearby dislodged a power pole causing a chain reaction of blackouts. The start time came and went and as hundreds of students crowded the auditorium, we were told that it was postponed until ‘further notice’. Needless to say there were a lot of angry students and a lot of them started a protest, demanding to sit the exam or receive passing grades. Me, I was just happy for the extra time to study! It was in the news, http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/13995/26/

There are still more chances to win, so check out these contest that have started in the last few days: Digital Inspiration, Geekzone, and The Digital Lifestyle

The latest entry in Kai’s Dictionary for the Internet Age gives college new vocabulary ammunition for complaining about finals. [a dance of derivation]

No LOLing from Sam in a vlog on surviving days in New York City. [LOLSAM]*

What your TA is actually thinking about during exams-besides which sweater vest to wear tomorrow. [no use for a headline]

Michael releases his first film as a college student to the masses of the Internets. Director’s description: “A pretentious, self-reflective experimental film that makes no sense.” Marketing is apparently not until next semester. [F1lm Sch00l]

Tip links:

• How to choose the right bank to make the most of your savings. [Poorer Than You]
• A reposted Advergirl post on which to choose for your organization: Facebook Page or Facebook Group? [The Student Leader Blog]

New blogs added: Politicoholic (U of IL), Shack in Japan (Lewis & Clark U), College and Finance (Ohio St U)

Keep submitting entries for the HP Magic contest! They must be in by tomorrow.

Recently started HP Magic contests: GeeksRoom; Living in Theory; Stop, Drop and Blog; Eliax; Digital Home Thoughts; OSNN; SlashGear; Study Hacks

*corny line o’ the day