Week 7: Famous Last Words

Sleeping Students image from Wikimedia Commons

Well, it's officially midterm season, and all of my classes are in high gear. I got up early this morning to get in all the extra credit for this class this week, and seeing as I'm on the last two assignments, that's gone pretty well for me! I still have to do my Project story, but that's on the agenda for this afternoon. Surprisingly, I kept up in this class last week, even with two midterms and a fair number of homework assignments looming over my head. I don't have any tests this week, but I do have at least three projects due, and so it's looking to be another busy one. 

This semester I've really begun to understand the concept of taking on too much. Between being E-Club President, TA-ing for a course, taking two graduate level electives and two major classes besides that, I'm doing everything I can to keep my head above water. Little things seem to keep popping up, and some other things slip through the cracks. A secret between you and me, dear blog readers; I'm a little excited for my fifth year, when I'm not planning to be involved in as much so I can focus on my schoolwork and maybe have a little time to myself. 

But I'm also trying hard to remember to enjoy this year, because it's my last year of undergrad, and even though it's busy and really tough and wearing me thin, it's a blast, and once I'm out of college, I won't have an experience exactly like this again. College is a weird time-warped place that has a very specific atmosphere that doesn't exist outside of campuses, and I'm so glad my time here has been as crazy and busy as it has. Mostly, anyway! Sometimes it would be nice to have a little extra sleep.

I realized I started rambling, so I'll wrap it up here. Here's to another successful week!

Edit: I finished the blog post and forgot about a couple things I wanted to write about.

1. I really, really enjoyed writing my story this week. Usually mine clock in near or at 1000 words, and are serious and emotional and just not always too fun to write when I'm already pretty stressed out. This week I chose to write a really lighthearted story, and had a blast! It was closer to 700 words, and was much more lighthearted and fun. 

2. This week I started reading a take on Harry Potter called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's really long, but it exists in podcast form, so when I've been driving or doing mindless tasks, I've taken to listening to it, and it's fantastic! Anyone who's interested in science and wants to know what Harry Potter would be like if he grew up with a scientist for a dad instead of a jerk, read more here. I recommend it!

Week 6: Famous Last Words

Empty stadium the Thursday before the game. Source: Personal photos

This week was a mish-mash of getting things done and putting things off.

I got my reading in on time this week, which was cool, but a Data Structures project due Monday evening made it impossible for me to do any bonus for this class for the second week in a row! I'm trying to finish up early so I can focus on my other four classes at the end of the semester, but it's getting tougher and tougher to get assignments done without using the grace period.

I wasn't thrilled with my writing this week, mostly because I had a fair bout of writer's block and wasn't feeling inspired by the Mahabharata. I also waited until late in the evening one night to write my project introduction, so there were more errors and inconsistencies than I really like to have in my stories. I tend to write really long stories as well, so I'm trying to pare those down as time goes on.

One thing I did manage was to get out to the stadium a couple times this week to run stairs, and I think I've found my new favorite form of exercise! I'm going to take advantage of the stadium being unlocked as long as I can, because I know it isn't normal to do that in most towns.

The Engineers' Club pre-game feed went really well this week too! We sold out of our breakfast burritos and had lots of people come out and say hi to us. If you're ever in the area on gameday, we're on the corner of Asp and Boyd, and we make truly delicious food, so come out and see what's up!

This week I've got two tests coming up, so I really need to buckle down and get work done... just like every other day of the semester. Such is the plight of the engineer, and everyone else having a hard semester!