I can't find anything to replace my music class, but I really want to drop it, so I'm just going to drop it and be okay with 15 credits. There's no point in taking a "fun" class if it isn't going to be fun. Fifteen in the spring should still be a better workout than fifteen in the fall, given that I have the advanced lab and review time is long since over in lecture and math. I'll save money in "books" (CDs) and tuition, and if I have a lot of extra time, I can start reading books again.
Speaking of money, I was going to downgrade to the small meal plan and use the saved money to buy groceries from other places and get some more variety in my diet. It turns out, though, that it's only $65 over the course of the whole term to change my plan in either direction. So, I'm actually going to upgrade to the big plan so I can have all the snacks I want and, if I get around to it, pay someone in dinners to take me driving.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Academic news
2 new developments:
1. I got into the honors college.
2. I'll probably drop my music class. I went today and it was very stressful; it seems to be geared toward people who already have a lot of music theory and history. It's also a practical pain in the ass because it's sandwiched between two other classes in a remote corner of campus. I'd like to keep the credit, though, so I'm going to look for a PE class or something.
1. I got into the honors college.
2. I'll probably drop my music class. I went today and it was very stressful; it seems to be geared toward people who already have a lot of music theory and history. It's also a practical pain in the ass because it's sandwiched between two other classes in a remote corner of campus. I'd like to keep the credit, though, so I'm going to look for a PE class or something.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Spring break summary
A quick catalog of what I did each day of my break:
Day 0 - arrived, showed Dancing Physicist around northwest Portland
Day 1 - visited MLC, Cleveland, hung out with Senor Evergreen
Day 2 - worked on a binder project*, dinner with a client of my stepdad's
Day 3 - saw Lost Rocket, dinner with her family and a new friend of theirs
Day 4 - went and chilled with LS
Day 5 - low key, checked up on some academic stuff, practiced driving
Day 6 - drove south, went to a movie with LS and Senor Evergreen
Day 7 - not much, hung around the house all day
Day 8 - road trip with the family
Day 9 - lunch with Lost Rocket, tea with LS, left a CD for Senor Evergreen
* The binder project: on day 1 Senor Evergreen and I sat in my room and I looked around. I said "wow there's a lot of stuff I'll have to eventually get rid of or take with me." I took down my pile of stuff I've been collecting that serves no purpose but I don't want to get rid of. I used to keep it in my bottom drawer and call it the "memory drawer." We looked at it, and later that night after he left I started putting all that I could in a binder. It seems MLC has successfully indoctrinated me in the Way of the Porfolio - I make portfolios out of everything now!
With respect to my stated spring break projects:
- I'm about halfway through Dune
- I drove around a neighborhood, partway to a friend's house in SE, and to the store and back
- I've requested recommendations and transcripts for my summer internship application
Looks good to me.
Day 0 - arrived, showed Dancing Physicist around northwest Portland
Day 1 - visited MLC, Cleveland, hung out with Senor Evergreen
Day 2 - worked on a binder project*, dinner with a client of my stepdad's
Day 3 - saw Lost Rocket, dinner with her family and a new friend of theirs
Day 4 - went and chilled with LS
Day 5 - low key, checked up on some academic stuff, practiced driving
Day 6 - drove south, went to a movie with LS and Senor Evergreen
Day 7 - not much, hung around the house all day
Day 8 - road trip with the family
Day 9 - lunch with Lost Rocket, tea with LS, left a CD for Senor Evergreen
* The binder project: on day 1 Senor Evergreen and I sat in my room and I looked around. I said "wow there's a lot of stuff I'll have to eventually get rid of or take with me." I took down my pile of stuff I've been collecting that serves no purpose but I don't want to get rid of. I used to keep it in my bottom drawer and call it the "memory drawer." We looked at it, and later that night after he left I started putting all that I could in a binder. It seems MLC has successfully indoctrinated me in the Way of the Porfolio - I make portfolios out of everything now!
With respect to my stated spring break projects:
- I'm about halfway through Dune
- I drove around a neighborhood, partway to a friend's house in SE, and to the store and back
- I've requested recommendations and transcripts for my summer internship application
Looks good to me.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Praise Portland
My last full day here was surprisingly eventful. I'd imagined I'd spend my last day mostly around the house, mostly packing, possibly out to one last lunch with a chosen friend. But love swelled up and compelled me to spend the day slowly migrating south to see them all. I had to see Lost Rocket again, and LS emailed me saying he'd like to see me again before I left. I wanted to connect with Senor Evergreen and give him a mix CD before leaving. I had lunch with Lost Rocket, and bubble tea with LS. Senor Evergreen wasn't home when I dropped off the CD, but I knew it would be hit-or-miss. The gesture, I think, will say enough.
Amongst it all, the weather today was a treat. On my last full day here, we finally got that real Portland rain I remember. More than a sprinkle but far from a deluge, it's the kind of rain that will keep your hair wet without soaking your clothes. The raindrops are plump, but they fall gently, moderately - raindrops pacing themselves for a long jog rather than a sprint around the track. Yet if you jog all day, you will burn a lot of calories, and so the rain saturates the city, forming small rivers along each curb, collecting in puddles that range from millimeter-thick sheen on the sidewalk to ankle-deep lakes where a drain is clogged. Less the biting wind, less the frigid cold, the rain simply makes the air wet, wet, wet - the kind of wet that sunny-faced Eugene in these steadily warming months is unlikely to offer me.
Amongst it all, the weather today was a treat. On my last full day here, we finally got that real Portland rain I remember. More than a sprinkle but far from a deluge, it's the kind of rain that will keep your hair wet without soaking your clothes. The raindrops are plump, but they fall gently, moderately - raindrops pacing themselves for a long jog rather than a sprint around the track. Yet if you jog all day, you will burn a lot of calories, and so the rain saturates the city, forming small rivers along each curb, collecting in puddles that range from millimeter-thick sheen on the sidewalk to ankle-deep lakes where a drain is clogged. Less the biting wind, less the frigid cold, the rain simply makes the air wet, wet, wet - the kind of wet that sunny-faced Eugene in these steadily warming months is unlikely to offer me.
Thanks, Portland.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A convergence of many threads
Yesterday -
I drove on busy streets for the first time. My grandma got us to 52nd and Division, after which I drove down 52nd, right onto Woodstock, left onto 46th, right again on Glenwood down to 41st. It wasn't very far but it had a few good turns. I enjoyed making the left turn off Woodstock because it combined a few more-difficult things (left turns and busy streets and timing) but I didn't have a lot of trouble with it.
I think I got a much better feel for the physics and strategy of driving this time. I sort of thought of all busy streets as the same thing before, but driving on 52nd really wasn't complicated. I also can see the ways in which the car moves like a bike. It seems like a big automated thing with very little intuitive movement, but it still responds to gravity!
I went to hang out with Senor Evergreen, and we invited LS over and went to a movie. It was pretty funny because this followed a couple days of Senor Evergreen and I, in the process of trying to make a camping trip happen, waffling over whether we wanted to stick the three of us together again without someone else as a buffer. Each combination of two of us had already hung out and been fine, but we have some weird collective history.
Everything was chill and I think we all had fun together (and I don't think that will necessarily change) but I know there's more entropy left to happen, especially with LS. There's still plenty of interpersonal photons bouncing around this group, and we're not at a stable state to count on yet.
LS left school and will be looking for a job soon, wants to move out eventually, but of course this economy won't be kind to an 18-year-old college dropout. Senor Evergreen is still in school but is not very happy with it and glad to be on break. I'm having a fine time on break, but I'm really looking forward to next term. LS is back home, I've visiting from home, and Senor Evergreen isn't sure if he has a home. It's an interesting combination of perspectives to bring together, almost a year after spraying out from the same high school.
The movie we saw was Watchmen. This is a movie that someone from my writing class was writing his final paper about. Someone from that class was also writing his paper on Star Wars and was so excited about it, he said "if I don't get an A on this paper I'm giving up on ever writing an A paper." I hated that class but it's providing a surprising number of humorous tie-ins to my life after the fact.
I drove on busy streets for the first time. My grandma got us to 52nd and Division, after which I drove down 52nd, right onto Woodstock, left onto 46th, right again on Glenwood down to 41st. It wasn't very far but it had a few good turns. I enjoyed making the left turn off Woodstock because it combined a few more-difficult things (left turns and busy streets and timing) but I didn't have a lot of trouble with it.
I think I got a much better feel for the physics and strategy of driving this time. I sort of thought of all busy streets as the same thing before, but driving on 52nd really wasn't complicated. I also can see the ways in which the car moves like a bike. It seems like a big automated thing with very little intuitive movement, but it still responds to gravity!
I went to hang out with Senor Evergreen, and we invited LS over and went to a movie. It was pretty funny because this followed a couple days of Senor Evergreen and I, in the process of trying to make a camping trip happen, waffling over whether we wanted to stick the three of us together again without someone else as a buffer. Each combination of two of us had already hung out and been fine, but we have some weird collective history.
Everything was chill and I think we all had fun together (and I don't think that will necessarily change) but I know there's more entropy left to happen, especially with LS. There's still plenty of interpersonal photons bouncing around this group, and we're not at a stable state to count on yet.
LS left school and will be looking for a job soon, wants to move out eventually, but of course this economy won't be kind to an 18-year-old college dropout. Senor Evergreen is still in school but is not very happy with it and glad to be on break. I'm having a fine time on break, but I'm really looking forward to next term. LS is back home, I've visiting from home, and Senor Evergreen isn't sure if he has a home. It's an interesting combination of perspectives to bring together, almost a year after spraying out from the same high school.
The movie we saw was Watchmen. This is a movie that someone from my writing class was writing his final paper about. Someone from that class was also writing his paper on Star Wars and was so excited about it, he said "if I don't get an A on this paper I'm giving up on ever writing an A paper." I hated that class but it's providing a surprising number of humorous tie-ins to my life after the fact.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Final grades
Dude... I fuckin' rule.
Thus bumping my cumulative GPA up to 4.03.
Two pluses and no minuses... even I am impressed with myself!
| Honors Gen Chemistry | A | ||||||||
| Adv Gen Chemistry Lab | A | ||||||||
| Calculus II | A | ||||||||
| Solar & Renew Energies | A+ | ||||||||
| College Composit III | A+ |
Thus bumping my cumulative GPA up to 4.03.
Two pluses and no minuses... even I am impressed with myself!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Out of Eugene, into Portland
I went to MLC today, but they aren't allowing visitors. I wandered into the school and into the counselors office and talked with her for a bit, and she told me I should go to the office and get a visitor's pass. Hmm - that's new. Went there, talked to the scary-and-always-grumpy secretary, who said no visitors passes are given out, or maybe it was none for former students, but anyway, I can't be there until the end of the school day. So I walked up to the Northwest library to use a computer.
There's also a new MAX line that goes by the Greyhound station. Portland is changing, MLC is changing, and the fact that they're actually excluding me strikes a vivid, sad note to me. MLC is not my school anymore.
---
Yesterday was a long day, but not the kind of "long" that is synonymous with "bad" or "harrowing." In fact, it couldn't have gone more smoothly. It was simply another one of those days where by the end you think "did all that stuff seriously happen since the last time I slept?"
My first final (of the day) was at 8am. This was my solar & renewable energies final. It was easy, as expected, and I walked back to my dorm to do a little bit of computer stuff and study for my next final, chemistry lecture at 10:15. It went swimmingly; it was pretty much just like the quizzes only longer and on more topics. It was different from last term's in that Dr. Page does more and simpler problems than Dr. Williams.
Had lunch, got a burrito for dinner and spent the last of my meal points on nonperishables. I did my last packing and cleaning, and by the time my lab final was up at 3:15 I was already thinking "was my solar final really today?" Lab, which I have with my old lecture prof Dr. Williams, was the one I was a little worried about, but it wasn't too bad. It was definitely a Williams final, challenging and requiring reasoning at least as much as knowledge. I appreciate that. I feel like I did pretty well, although there were certainly some questions I wasn't sure about. So I walked out thinking "wow, I just powered through three finals and they all went well - and now I'm really hungry." Brains use a lot of sugar.
Then I left and took the bus back to Portland with Dancing Physicist. When we got in, I showed him around NW a bit - first MLC, and after that our route evolved organically. We ended up going to the playground in the North Park Blocks and checking out Powell's Technical through the windows, though it was closed. We got back to the Greyhound station in excellent time to get my bags out of the locker I'd rented without any additional fees, and continued our conversation about people we know and love over fig and chocolate chip cake. In the end I caught the MAX that I wanted at 11:28, and got home about midnight just as I'd intended. It all worked out perfectly.
To do over Spring Break:
- Read Dune
- Practice driving
- Apply for summer internships
There's also a new MAX line that goes by the Greyhound station. Portland is changing, MLC is changing, and the fact that they're actually excluding me strikes a vivid, sad note to me. MLC is not my school anymore.
---
Yesterday was a long day, but not the kind of "long" that is synonymous with "bad" or "harrowing." In fact, it couldn't have gone more smoothly. It was simply another one of those days where by the end you think "did all that stuff seriously happen since the last time I slept?"
My first final (of the day) was at 8am. This was my solar & renewable energies final. It was easy, as expected, and I walked back to my dorm to do a little bit of computer stuff and study for my next final, chemistry lecture at 10:15. It went swimmingly; it was pretty much just like the quizzes only longer and on more topics. It was different from last term's in that Dr. Page does more and simpler problems than Dr. Williams.
Had lunch, got a burrito for dinner and spent the last of my meal points on nonperishables. I did my last packing and cleaning, and by the time my lab final was up at 3:15 I was already thinking "was my solar final really today?" Lab, which I have with my old lecture prof Dr. Williams, was the one I was a little worried about, but it wasn't too bad. It was definitely a Williams final, challenging and requiring reasoning at least as much as knowledge. I appreciate that. I feel like I did pretty well, although there were certainly some questions I wasn't sure about. So I walked out thinking "wow, I just powered through three finals and they all went well - and now I'm really hungry." Brains use a lot of sugar.
Then I left and took the bus back to Portland with Dancing Physicist. When we got in, I showed him around NW a bit - first MLC, and after that our route evolved organically. We ended up going to the playground in the North Park Blocks and checking out Powell's Technical through the windows, though it was closed. We got back to the Greyhound station in excellent time to get my bags out of the locker I'd rented without any additional fees, and continued our conversation about people we know and love over fig and chocolate chip cake. In the end I caught the MAX that I wanted at 11:28, and got home about midnight just as I'd intended. It all worked out perfectly.
To do over Spring Break:
- Read Dune
- Practice driving
- Apply for summer internships
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The last day
Last day here.
Just took a cushy-physics final. Heading to my chem lecture final in about half an hour. After a break for lunch I have the exam for lab.
Roommate left yesterday, so I'm doing all the last little bits to our room. Taking out the recycling, opening the blinds, turning down the heater.
Got my final paper and my porphyrin mini-report finished yesterday, even though they are both theoretically due 5pm tomorrow. SO glad to be done with that bullshit writing class. All I have to do now is take my chem finals, spend my food points, pack my last cords and things, and leave.
Speaking of which, it is now time to turn off my computer, put it in my backpack, and take one last look over my study cards.
Just took a cushy-physics final. Heading to my chem lecture final in about half an hour. After a break for lunch I have the exam for lab.
Roommate left yesterday, so I'm doing all the last little bits to our room. Taking out the recycling, opening the blinds, turning down the heater.
Got my final paper and my porphyrin mini-report finished yesterday, even though they are both theoretically due 5pm tomorrow. SO glad to be done with that bullshit writing class. All I have to do now is take my chem finals, spend my food points, pack my last cords and things, and leave.
Speaking of which, it is now time to turn off my computer, put it in my backpack, and take one last look over my study cards.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Coming back
I'm coming back to Portland next Thursday night.
Provided everything works out right, I'll catch the same bus with Dancing Physicist, hang out in Portland for a few hours before he catches his connection to La Grande. Then, I'll go to MLC in the morning and probably stop by Cleveland to see my old science teacher in the afternoon.
Sweetness.
Provided everything works out right, I'll catch the same bus with Dancing Physicist, hang out in Portland for a few hours before he catches his connection to La Grande. Then, I'll go to MLC in the morning and probably stop by Cleveland to see my old science teacher in the afternoon.
Sweetness.
Fun classes
Okay, NOW I'm happy with my schedule.
I have sixteen credits.
I have math at 11 am.
I got approved for the physics seminar, so I get another credit listening to a professor talk about the nature of time and causality. And you know this professor is a big shot because his office is on the top floor of the physics building. Dancing Physicist recommended him, too.
I've been thinking lately of minoring in math, so I was debating dropping existentialism for something like intro to proofs. I'd like to take linear algebra, but it's a two-term class and I don't want to start anything next term that isn't self-contained, because the trimesters and semesters will get messed up if I transfer to Reed. Fortunately (or not?) I get to gloss over that whole decision because a space opened up in philosophy of love & sex.
Another perk: on Thursdays I just have one class, it's first thing in the morning, and it's philosophy discussion. Thursday is nice day to have essentially off.
I have sixteen credits.
I have math at 11 am.
I got approved for the physics seminar, so I get another credit listening to a professor talk about the nature of time and causality. And you know this professor is a big shot because his office is on the top floor of the physics building. Dancing Physicist recommended him, too.
I've been thinking lately of minoring in math, so I was debating dropping existentialism for something like intro to proofs. I'd like to take linear algebra, but it's a two-term class and I don't want to start anything next term that isn't self-contained, because the trimesters and semesters will get messed up if I transfer to Reed. Fortunately (or not?) I get to gloss over that whole decision because a space opened up in philosophy of love & sex.
Another perk: on Thursdays I just have one class, it's first thing in the morning, and it's philosophy discussion. Thursday is nice day to have essentially off.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Lip ring
I got the lip ring today.
The hoop is really big right now to accommodate any swelling, but after Spring Break I can go back and get it downsized.
I like it.
Back to improper integrals now.
The hoop is really big right now to accommodate any swelling, but after Spring Break I can go back and get it downsized.
I like it.
Back to improper integrals now.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Recycle Mania
There's this event going on at U of O called Recyclemania. It's actually going on at a lot of schools because it's a competition between them. As you might guess, the idea is to get students recycling more.
Sounds like a good idea. But there's a problem: the winner is the school that collects the greatest amount of recyclables per student.
There's no incentive for actual waste reduction! If a student wants to get a soda, for example, they might have the choice between a) using a waxy, garbage-destined paper cup to get a fountain soda, b) buying a soda in a recyclable aluminum can, or c) filling up their own bottle with a fountain soda. From a waste reduction perspective, (c) is clearly the best choice. But from a "winning the recycling competition" perspective, that student would better consume the aluminum so they can recycle it. A student that generates five units of trash and five units of recycling in a week is doing more to help the competition than a student who generates two units of trash and three units of recycling.
From my eco-conscious, green Portlander perspective this seems reprehensible. But, I understand that people at UO come from all over the place and there may well be a significant contingent who need their awareness of recycling raised. Still, I can think of an easy way to improve the system: grade it by which school has the highest proportion of recyclables relative to the total amount of waste generated.
I am sending an email to the director with my suggestion.
Of course, this is just a drop in the bucket. Even if they listen to me and fix Recyclemania, the UO generates an appalling amount of waste. Even with the reusable baskets, tons of paper plates are used. You get asked "for here or to go?" and if you answer "to go" you get a paper plate or boat. Sometimes they don't even ask. I always say "for here" regardless of where I plan to eat my food, but I see lots of people actually eating on site and still so many of them have paper dishes. Tons of plastic silverware gets thrown away, and the compost project is pitifully small - there isn't even compost in the dining hall where it's most needed. And then there's the prepackaged stuff at the Grab 'n' Go. You thoughtlessly buy a salad, eat it, and then look down thinking "holy crap, I used that much plastic for one meal?"
I was talking to Dancing Physicist about it and he is particularly disgusted by the silverware issue. He suggested they just stop providing silverware - make the students keep their own. Sell it somewhere on campus, or issue a set with the water bottle and laundry card. Thefts from the dining hall would probably increase, but there's a limit to how much that will help you - even if you steal from Carson, you still have to keep track of it to use it anywhere else, just like you would if you had your own.
I've been reusing plastic forks, but when I go home for break I'm going to bring back a set of silverware. Viva la revolucion! I'm also going to make a bowl for cereal, because there isn't even a reusable option for that. I should collect some statistics and make posters to convince other people to do stuff like this... especially the silverware.
Sounds like a good idea. But there's a problem: the winner is the school that collects the greatest amount of recyclables per student.
There's no incentive for actual waste reduction! If a student wants to get a soda, for example, they might have the choice between a) using a waxy, garbage-destined paper cup to get a fountain soda, b) buying a soda in a recyclable aluminum can, or c) filling up their own bottle with a fountain soda. From a waste reduction perspective, (c) is clearly the best choice. But from a "winning the recycling competition" perspective, that student would better consume the aluminum so they can recycle it. A student that generates five units of trash and five units of recycling in a week is doing more to help the competition than a student who generates two units of trash and three units of recycling.
From my eco-conscious, green Portlander perspective this seems reprehensible. But, I understand that people at UO come from all over the place and there may well be a significant contingent who need their awareness of recycling raised. Still, I can think of an easy way to improve the system: grade it by which school has the highest proportion of recyclables relative to the total amount of waste generated.
I am sending an email to the director with my suggestion.
Of course, this is just a drop in the bucket. Even if they listen to me and fix Recyclemania, the UO generates an appalling amount of waste. Even with the reusable baskets, tons of paper plates are used. You get asked "for here or to go?" and if you answer "to go" you get a paper plate or boat. Sometimes they don't even ask. I always say "for here" regardless of where I plan to eat my food, but I see lots of people actually eating on site and still so many of them have paper dishes. Tons of plastic silverware gets thrown away, and the compost project is pitifully small - there isn't even compost in the dining hall where it's most needed. And then there's the prepackaged stuff at the Grab 'n' Go. You thoughtlessly buy a salad, eat it, and then look down thinking "holy crap, I used that much plastic for one meal?"
I was talking to Dancing Physicist about it and he is particularly disgusted by the silverware issue. He suggested they just stop providing silverware - make the students keep their own. Sell it somewhere on campus, or issue a set with the water bottle and laundry card. Thefts from the dining hall would probably increase, but there's a limit to how much that will help you - even if you steal from Carson, you still have to keep track of it to use it anywhere else, just like you would if you had your own.
I've been reusing plastic forks, but when I go home for break I'm going to bring back a set of silverware. Viva la revolucion! I'm also going to make a bowl for cereal, because there isn't even a reusable option for that. I should collect some statistics and make posters to convince other people to do stuff like this... especially the silverware.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Catching you all up now that free time is back
The worst is over. I have free time now. There's still homework, but there aren't any new assignments being given out now, so it's just a matter of finishing the leftovers and writing study cards for my finals.
This past weekend was spent working furiously on a lab report, for which my data sucked so badly you wouldn't even believe. It essentially showed the exact opposite trend of what it was supposed to, which gave me a problem since I was supposed to explain "the trend" with the molecular structure of the protein we were studying. Naturally, said structure didn't explain MY data at all! I ended up finding a journal article that described the assay, used it as a reference for what kind of results I should have gotten, explained that, and then did a big error analysis. We also just got back our lab reports from our first project, and my score was 156/210. (That's 74%.) The remarkable thing? That was the second-highest grade in the class. Considering that I wasn't even in the advanced lab last term, and therefore haven't had any practice with these reports, I'm surprised. Most of the points I lost were in formatting.
It's looking like there's a good chance I may not get straight A's this term. I will get A's in chem lecture and physics I'm sure (in physics I'm aiming for an A+ but it depends on if those exist according to my professor) and of the remaining three classes... I doubt I will get more than one non-A grade but it's hard to tell where it will fall if there is one. I should be able to get an A out of writing but the final paper is still out there. Math I'm somewhat worried about; I think I'm looking at an A- or B+. I've been getting low 90s on the quizzes and high 80s on the homework; I got a 96 on the first midterm and an 80 on the second, but I can still get points back by correcting it. So, hard to call. And lab is anyone's guess. I think I'm doing pretty well, but in a class where the highest grade is 79% you can't ascribe much to the numbers, and what else I know isn't concrete. I do know that the honors classes get a nice B+ or so average, so that will help.
My last final is next Thursday, so I'll be coming back sometime Friday, probably in the morning. This coming weekend, my dad is going to come have brunch with me. LS is leaving school and coming back to Portland tomorrow, so I may see him over Spring Break.
I'm really glad to finish this term and spend a week at home. Hit the 'reset' button. The last couple weeks, I know my overall health has deteriorated. Part of it is from stress and constantly rushing to get the thing that's due soonest, done. I've been staying up too late, sometimes to do homework and sometimes to unwind after I burn out on homework, and so I keep being tired in the morning, dragging myself to my morning class, and then napping until lunch. Recently I've actually been falling asleep during those naps. Never could do that before. Yesterday morning was the first time in a few weeks I got up at a reasonable time and it wasn't a struggle. And I will be so happy to go home and HUG people. I hardly ever make physical contact with anyone here.
My schedule for next term is looking alright. I'm taking chemistry, math, and lab as usual, and I got my math switched to 11am. I'm still in existentialism, which is not my first choice of classes to take, but if I don't get into anything else that's okay. What I'm hoping to switch into is philosophy of love and sex; that sounds much more interesting. I'm also signed up for "guided listening" which sounds cool yet kind of like quack, but if I can get another real credit I'll be happy with that. The real credit I'm chasing is a faculty seminar in physics called It's About Time. The department told me it's coreq'd with an astronomy class that I can't take because it conflicts with my lab lecture, but they're going to find out if I can enroll anyway. If I can't get into that, my options are to either grab a PE credit, just take 15, or drop the music class and try to get into a 3 credit freshman seminar. There is an interesting one (the description opens with "what's so political about food?") but it looks to be full at the moment. I could also take another 4 credit class, but I don't want to take 18 credits again and I had a hard enough time finding my first 4 credit class to fit my schedule.
I finally got down to the office of environmental health and safety to ask about fire extinguisher and lab safety training, but they haven't called me back yet.
I'm hoping to get my lip piercing before I come back for break, but I'm not sure if that will happen.
This past weekend was spent working furiously on a lab report, for which my data sucked so badly you wouldn't even believe. It essentially showed the exact opposite trend of what it was supposed to, which gave me a problem since I was supposed to explain "the trend" with the molecular structure of the protein we were studying. Naturally, said structure didn't explain MY data at all! I ended up finding a journal article that described the assay, used it as a reference for what kind of results I should have gotten, explained that, and then did a big error analysis. We also just got back our lab reports from our first project, and my score was 156/210. (That's 74%.) The remarkable thing? That was the second-highest grade in the class. Considering that I wasn't even in the advanced lab last term, and therefore haven't had any practice with these reports, I'm surprised. Most of the points I lost were in formatting.
It's looking like there's a good chance I may not get straight A's this term. I will get A's in chem lecture and physics I'm sure (in physics I'm aiming for an A+ but it depends on if those exist according to my professor) and of the remaining three classes... I doubt I will get more than one non-A grade but it's hard to tell where it will fall if there is one. I should be able to get an A out of writing but the final paper is still out there. Math I'm somewhat worried about; I think I'm looking at an A- or B+. I've been getting low 90s on the quizzes and high 80s on the homework; I got a 96 on the first midterm and an 80 on the second, but I can still get points back by correcting it. So, hard to call. And lab is anyone's guess. I think I'm doing pretty well, but in a class where the highest grade is 79% you can't ascribe much to the numbers, and what else I know isn't concrete. I do know that the honors classes get a nice B+ or so average, so that will help.
My last final is next Thursday, so I'll be coming back sometime Friday, probably in the morning. This coming weekend, my dad is going to come have brunch with me. LS is leaving school and coming back to Portland tomorrow, so I may see him over Spring Break.
I'm really glad to finish this term and spend a week at home. Hit the 'reset' button. The last couple weeks, I know my overall health has deteriorated. Part of it is from stress and constantly rushing to get the thing that's due soonest, done. I've been staying up too late, sometimes to do homework and sometimes to unwind after I burn out on homework, and so I keep being tired in the morning, dragging myself to my morning class, and then napping until lunch. Recently I've actually been falling asleep during those naps. Never could do that before. Yesterday morning was the first time in a few weeks I got up at a reasonable time and it wasn't a struggle. And I will be so happy to go home and HUG people. I hardly ever make physical contact with anyone here.
My schedule for next term is looking alright. I'm taking chemistry, math, and lab as usual, and I got my math switched to 11am. I'm still in existentialism, which is not my first choice of classes to take, but if I don't get into anything else that's okay. What I'm hoping to switch into is philosophy of love and sex; that sounds much more interesting. I'm also signed up for "guided listening" which sounds cool yet kind of like quack, but if I can get another real credit I'll be happy with that. The real credit I'm chasing is a faculty seminar in physics called It's About Time. The department told me it's coreq'd with an astronomy class that I can't take because it conflicts with my lab lecture, but they're going to find out if I can enroll anyway. If I can't get into that, my options are to either grab a PE credit, just take 15, or drop the music class and try to get into a 3 credit freshman seminar. There is an interesting one (the description opens with "what's so political about food?") but it looks to be full at the moment. I could also take another 4 credit class, but I don't want to take 18 credits again and I had a hard enough time finding my first 4 credit class to fit my schedule.
I finally got down to the office of environmental health and safety to ask about fire extinguisher and lab safety training, but they haven't called me back yet.
I'm hoping to get my lip piercing before I come back for break, but I'm not sure if that will happen.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Dissatisfying schedule
I didn't even describe nearly all of the homework that's plaguing me right now in my last post but I think the frantic hypercompounded sentences get the point across.
My schedule for next term does not please me greatly at this point. The 11am math class was not available by the time I registered so I'm stuck in 1pm again and I'll be watching like a hawk for anyone to drop 11am. I wish there was some way to be notified if a certain section opens up. The midday Thursday lab was also gone; the only labs remaining were 3-6 Tuesday or Thursday so I picked Thursday one originally, but after reviewing my schedule switched to Tuesday so that Thursday is my light day. For my elective credits I'm taking existentialism and "guided listening." I'm not really happy with this so I'm trawling Duckweb trying to find other stuff but a lot of what I like is full and even more of it conflicts with my nonnegotiables. For instance, I can't take geology because it's at the same time as chemistry lecture.
I'm worried because of my ridiculous workload I'm not going to be able to spend enough time checking Duckweb and I won't actually get to change my class. I really really really want to take math at 11am, I don't like math at 1pm because it's awkward for lunch, but if I take it at 10am (the only other option right now) then I can't even take existentialism and then I don't have enough classes. I don't understand how there are only 4 sections of 253, there were a million of 251 and plenty of 252. Do that many people seriously drop out of calc?
My schedule for next term does not please me greatly at this point. The 11am math class was not available by the time I registered so I'm stuck in 1pm again and I'll be watching like a hawk for anyone to drop 11am. I wish there was some way to be notified if a certain section opens up. The midday Thursday lab was also gone; the only labs remaining were 3-6 Tuesday or Thursday so I picked Thursday one originally, but after reviewing my schedule switched to Tuesday so that Thursday is my light day. For my elective credits I'm taking existentialism and "guided listening." I'm not really happy with this so I'm trawling Duckweb trying to find other stuff but a lot of what I like is full and even more of it conflicts with my nonnegotiables. For instance, I can't take geology because it's at the same time as chemistry lecture.
I'm worried because of my ridiculous workload I'm not going to be able to spend enough time checking Duckweb and I won't actually get to change my class. I really really really want to take math at 11am, I don't like math at 1pm because it's awkward for lunch, but if I take it at 10am (the only other option right now) then I can't even take existentialism and then I don't have enough classes. I don't understand how there are only 4 sections of 253, there were a million of 251 and plenty of 252. Do that many people seriously drop out of calc?
Never again
Hey guys, for about three minutes I'm back from the land of "oh my god my homework is gonna kill me." I'll probably be functionally disappearing until about finals week now, seeing as my workload seems to be going up exponentially since the beginning of the term. I just finished my ten source annotated bibliography which took ALL FUCKING WEEKEND because it takes at least an hour to read and annotate a source, never mind finding it, and now the 5 page first draft of the paper to be based on this research is due in two days. Also, I have a lab report due next Monday that everyone else has been working on for a week but I haven't because prior to the annotated bib, we had to write up an abstract which I got done late because I was inconveniently sick last weekend. Now it's 4:30 and time to register for my next term's classes so I'll see y'all in a few weeks, bye.
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