Well. It's been a while since my last post, though it doesn't feel like it for me. Random stuff ahead.
I was going to wait to post until I could find my old gothy pics, but... I can't find them on this computer. I'm thinking i may have left them on the HD of my old computer... the old computer that doesn't like to boot up. I should look at pulling the HD someday and installing it on this machine, but until then, I apparently don't have the pics any more.
So... I haven't really left the house in several months. I mean... I go to school and work and stuff, but other than that, I don't go anywhere. I'm not sure if it's because I'm down, or if I'm just exhausted. I just know that when the weekend rolls around, I don't go grocery shopping, I don't go run errands. It's all I can do to convince myself to wake up and do my schoolwork. Bleah. Most weekends, I end up in bed for twenty hours straight, sleeping fitfully.
School's gone badly thus far, though I'm actually doing well grade-wise. My math classes are difficult, though the analysis II class is far more rewarding with this new professor than the first was with the old prof. It's fast-paced, though, and I don't get everything that's being discussed... I have to play catch up on weekends (well, when I can get out of bed, that is), and hope for the best. I got the highest score on the last exam, and he curved it, so... I'm doing okay. It's just wearing me out trying to keep up. I think everyone realizes that we were kind of screwed with our analysis stuff thus far; we're behind where we should be, and the prof. has to do as much as he can to get us up to the level that the math department (or, indeed, any grad school) would expect of us.
Imagine two 16-week analysis courses being crammed into 6 weeks. That's what we're dealing with.
The eager puppy dog, Igor, has been kind of chastened this semester by his various math classes; he's come down to "our" level, so to speak, and I've actually begun to be friendly with him. It's nice to have a class where you feel like you're working together with someone, rather than laboring in their shadow. And I've made a couple of friends in chaos, though there's a guy in the corner who decided that he would show his intellectual dominance by denouncing the fact that the others and I were talking about gasp what our favorite comic strips were, why Ziggy sucks, or the fact that there was a mail box dressed like R2-D2 outside the science building. Right-o. Maybe he's just jealous that he can't get enjoyment from pop culture.
The mentoring research is over, and my paper is almost written (just need to finish the conclusion and tack on the bibliography)... I just can't muster any enthusiasm for the rest of this project; I have to do a poster presentation in a couple of weeks, something I've not done since my junior-high science fairs...
Latest awards stuff: had my top-100 banquet last weekend. I was ticked that a classmate of mine, Chris Audu, didn't get the top male student award. He was in the top-10 last year and this year, and I feel like he should have gotten the top honors both times. His list of accomplishments as an undergrad are astounding (he runs an AIDS prevention program in his home country of Nigeria, has synthesized several promising compounds for the treatment of AIDS that are in clinical trials, and so much more), in addition to his flawless academic performance and volunteer service here in Indiana, and the fact that he's probably the friendliest guy I've met on campus in the last 5 years. Not to knock the other guys in the top 10, nor the guy who won top male... but somehow volunteering for Toys for Tots and/or being a good scholar/athlete pales in comparison to the stuff Chris does.
Anyway, I knew a number of the top 100-- quite a few fellow mentors-- and had one of those "proud parent" moments when I recognized a guy that I had mentored in logic.
Got an e-mail yesterday telling me that I'm getting some kind of award from the university dean at the mentor celebration on the 19th; not sure what's up with that, but unfortunately both of my math classes are on the 19th, and with their pace... I can't take time off for an award ceremony.
Finally, Dr. Rogers apparently has nominated me for some other kind of academic award; I had to provide documentation of all of my other awards over the last five years, which turned out to be a daunting task-- after a few semesters, I began filing awards certificates away without looking at them, so trying to dig them all out in a short deadline turned out to be pretty difficult.
I've also decided to sell my soul to the devil; after discussing things with Dr. Rogers, I'm probably going to declare a second major after meeting with an advisor this coming Friday. The second major? Philosophy. I know... one of those "that'll help you wait tables" degrees, but it meshes well with a focus on science (philosophy of science, logic, symbolic logic, paradoxes, and ethics), there's apparently a good number of financial awards currently unclaimed, and I need *something* to round me out better than this single-minded focus on hard science. It also means not graduating for another year or so, but... I'll be struggling for finances next spring unless I do something, and it's been strongly suggested that there's a position for me teaching philosophy when I'm ready.
I was going to wait to post until I could find my old gothy pics, but... I can't find them on this computer. I'm thinking i may have left them on the HD of my old computer... the old computer that doesn't like to boot up. I should look at pulling the HD someday and installing it on this machine, but until then, I apparently don't have the pics any more.
So... I haven't really left the house in several months. I mean... I go to school and work and stuff, but other than that, I don't go anywhere. I'm not sure if it's because I'm down, or if I'm just exhausted. I just know that when the weekend rolls around, I don't go grocery shopping, I don't go run errands. It's all I can do to convince myself to wake up and do my schoolwork. Bleah. Most weekends, I end up in bed for twenty hours straight, sleeping fitfully.
School's gone badly thus far, though I'm actually doing well grade-wise. My math classes are difficult, though the analysis II class is far more rewarding with this new professor than the first was with the old prof. It's fast-paced, though, and I don't get everything that's being discussed... I have to play catch up on weekends (well, when I can get out of bed, that is), and hope for the best. I got the highest score on the last exam, and he curved it, so... I'm doing okay. It's just wearing me out trying to keep up. I think everyone realizes that we were kind of screwed with our analysis stuff thus far; we're behind where we should be, and the prof. has to do as much as he can to get us up to the level that the math department (or, indeed, any grad school) would expect of us.
Imagine two 16-week analysis courses being crammed into 6 weeks. That's what we're dealing with.
The eager puppy dog, Igor, has been kind of chastened this semester by his various math classes; he's come down to "our" level, so to speak, and I've actually begun to be friendly with him. It's nice to have a class where you feel like you're working together with someone, rather than laboring in their shadow. And I've made a couple of friends in chaos, though there's a guy in the corner who decided that he would show his intellectual dominance by denouncing the fact that the others and I were talking about gasp what our favorite comic strips were, why Ziggy sucks, or the fact that there was a mail box dressed like R2-D2 outside the science building. Right-o. Maybe he's just jealous that he can't get enjoyment from pop culture.
The mentoring research is over, and my paper is almost written (just need to finish the conclusion and tack on the bibliography)... I just can't muster any enthusiasm for the rest of this project; I have to do a poster presentation in a couple of weeks, something I've not done since my junior-high science fairs...
Latest awards stuff: had my top-100 banquet last weekend. I was ticked that a classmate of mine, Chris Audu, didn't get the top male student award. He was in the top-10 last year and this year, and I feel like he should have gotten the top honors both times. His list of accomplishments as an undergrad are astounding (he runs an AIDS prevention program in his home country of Nigeria, has synthesized several promising compounds for the treatment of AIDS that are in clinical trials, and so much more), in addition to his flawless academic performance and volunteer service here in Indiana, and the fact that he's probably the friendliest guy I've met on campus in the last 5 years. Not to knock the other guys in the top 10, nor the guy who won top male... but somehow volunteering for Toys for Tots and/or being a good scholar/athlete pales in comparison to the stuff Chris does.
Anyway, I knew a number of the top 100-- quite a few fellow mentors-- and had one of those "proud parent" moments when I recognized a guy that I had mentored in logic.
Got an e-mail yesterday telling me that I'm getting some kind of award from the university dean at the mentor celebration on the 19th; not sure what's up with that, but unfortunately both of my math classes are on the 19th, and with their pace... I can't take time off for an award ceremony.
Finally, Dr. Rogers apparently has nominated me for some other kind of academic award; I had to provide documentation of all of my other awards over the last five years, which turned out to be a daunting task-- after a few semesters, I began filing awards certificates away without looking at them, so trying to dig them all out in a short deadline turned out to be pretty difficult.
I've also decided to sell my soul to the devil; after discussing things with Dr. Rogers, I'm probably going to declare a second major after meeting with an advisor this coming Friday. The second major? Philosophy. I know... one of those "that'll help you wait tables" degrees, but it meshes well with a focus on science (philosophy of science, logic, symbolic logic, paradoxes, and ethics), there's apparently a good number of financial awards currently unclaimed, and I need *something* to round me out better than this single-minded focus on hard science. It also means not graduating for another year or so, but... I'll be struggling for finances next spring unless I do something, and it's been strongly suggested that there's a position for me teaching philosophy when I'm ready.
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Note: Look for the teenaged girl who's wearing the pink T-shirt "God Hates Fags!" It's all pretty sweet.