The week has started off pretty well. I was hungry this morning and really tired, so it was difficult to focus in my computer science class. I ate a quick lunch and then played Guitar Hero in Paul's room until Latin. I didn't do a great job with my sight translation today in Latin, but it was good enough. I also had a nice ride and I ate dinner with Amber and Heather. Amber is in my riding class this semester and she was in it with me last semester. Heather rode with me during the first semester. We had a nice, long talk about horses over our dinners :)
I went home this weekend to judge a therapeutic riding barn's horse show. I got back to school around 7:15 last night. Paul called me and asked me if I wanted to come over and see him, so I stopped on campus and made a quick run to the computer science department while he was coming back from dinner. I was going to do a little reconnaissance work (By now you should know that means I'm up to no good with some sort of ridiculous practical joke...), but there was someone down there and it just seemed awkward to have someone around me while I was in sketch mode. I don't know if I'll pull it off, but the idea is there in case I ever decide to do it. Perhaps later in the semester ;)
I stepped out onto the front porch of the building where I saw Paul. I came up behind him, walked beside him for several moments, then passed him. I greeted him, but I guess he didn't hear me. I finally sent him a text message and told him to look up. It was pretty amusing.
We went to his room for a while and watched a movie. It was a funny movie, but I can't remember the name of it. It'll come in time. Then, we went walking around town. We came to a park, but kept on walking. We walked all the way back to his car, which he drove to another park that was a short distance away from campus. We walked around and talked. It was hard to see where the path was in the dark, and I was worried that we were going to get lost. It wasn't so much the "getting lost" part as it was the "I have class at 10 AM tomorrow and I want to get some sleep and do my homework" part. I'm fully aware of the fact that I'm a nerd :P We took a few different paths. One led to a huge field. We walked through the field until we came to a fence. The fence would've been easy enough to jump, but we didn't know if it was the property of the public park or not. We turned around and took a different path, which led us to some water. We couldn't tell much about the water because it was so dark. We tossed pebbles to see where it started, but even then we weren't sure. I got my leg wrapped in some fishing line, but fortunately there wasn't a hook attached to it. Maybe one day we can go back when we can actually see the water. I bet it would be gorgeous.
After all of the trails were explored, we went back up to the parking lot. There was a playground near the parking lot, so we played on it for a while. Swinging was very fun. Going down the slide was not. I climbed up a little metal ladder with my wet, slippery shoes and wasn't sure if I was actually going to make it up or not. I went down one of the curvy slides, which was where I made a huge mistake.
The slides were designed for small children, not tall college students. When I reached the bend in the slide, one side of my hips banged into the side of the slide. I kept going and the other side of my hips banged up against the side. It was definitely not a pleasant ride, but I'm happy to report that they were more slide-y than the slide at the park near my house. I can't slide down the one near my house. I always have to jump off halfway down because it just isn't slick enough.
So, that little adventure was the reason why I had to wear my riding boots all day today and why I just got finished with blow-drying my shoes. They were still absolutely soaked when I got ready to put them on this morning, even though I unlaced them and took the arch supports and the little base cushions out. In case you didn't know, I have a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of riding boots here with me at school. So much for stereotypical female behavior :)
There should be a GALL meeting tomorrow night, so I'm extremely excited about that. I added all of the new members to the e-mail list early this morning, so hopefully Mike will send out the e-mail soon if he hasn't already. I want to do some crazy stunt on our first night, so I hope someone else has an idea for something. I'm dry right now.
The PERL meetings are, unfortunately, during my linguistics class. I'm still not sure if I got into the linguistics class or not, but the odds are definitely in my favor. The professor told me to come to this week's class having done the assignment, so I assume that means she's pretty sure I'll get in.
The ACM meetings are on Thursday nights, however, so I'm going to go to them to make up for it. I guess there will be a lot of overlap between PERL and ACM (but PERL is all girls, haha), so I'll still get to meet lots of the members and maybe I'll attend some of PERL's special events. ACM is supposedly having a water balloon fight, and the thought of that makes me very happy. If it's anything like playing with a frisbee at the spring picnic, it'll be very amusing indeed :)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday.
Today was a great day.
I only had my Latin class today, so I didn't have to go to school until one. I decided to go a little earlier, however, because I wanted to see Dr. Helmstutler (my new Calculus II professor) and I had to meet with Sara and have my lunch before class. The "meeting" with Dr. Helmstutler was uneventful--it didn't happen. He was cozied up in his office chair and I actually think he was sleeping. There was no way I was going to wake him up just to tell him that I was actually able to get into the class and to ask him if I could have a syllabus.
I simply went downstairs to the computer science department. I translated my Latin for a little bit, but I got a cramp in my hand and I didn't really feel like doing any more. After I put my notebook away, I alternated between staring off into space and putting my head down on the table. I watched people walk by and listened to them. One guy rolled down a small "hill" in one of the halls and came flying past me in a rolling chair. I thought that was funny and I kind of wanted to try it, but I didn't want the whole department to be taken over by rolling-chair races. The place looks a whole lot bigger now that it got those new lab doors and some of the tables were removed, but it's still the narrow hallway that it's always been. Later on, I heard Stephen talking to a more advanced CS major about the "clueless 110 students." (And just so Dr. Davies doesn't sound mean--because he isn't--he also added that everyone is there at one point :))
It is pretty funny to think about just how clueless we all were. I really shouldn't say "were." Most of the class didn't continue with computer science, but the ones who did still are quite clueless--yes, I'm including myself in that statement. It's humbling to think about just how much I don't know yet. I made a lot of ridiculous mistakes in 110, a whole lot, but I honestly feel like I'm learning a lot of new stuff. It's an exciting process, one which isn't complete without screwing up a few good times.
That was my personal thought for the day. I basically turned that over in my head for the rest of my time in the department today.
After I left the basement, I went to wait for Sara. Sara is one of the co-presidents who will be taking over GALL after Mike graduates, and I think we're going to consider her the "main" president because most of the forms only allow a single president. She told me that she'd meet me in front of one of the buildings in order for me to give her the list of new GALL members that we got at Club Carnival. To make a long story short, it started pouring down rain while I waited half an hour for her. She never showed, but she just sent me a message, apologizing profusely and telling me that she completely forgot. I'm really not bothered at all; I just wish that someone else had the list so that we could go ahead and get an e-mail out to everyone about the upcoming meeting. It was actually kind of fun. I sat on one of the tables on the patio in front of the building and stayed under the umbrella. My shoes got wet, but it was okay. Mike actually ran out of the building, frolicking and shouting something about the rain, which made me laugh. I didn't even realize until after he was out of yelling distance that I could've just given him the list. I felt dumb :P
I did have lunch though, and it was very good. I had some delicious tofu stir fry. I always love a good tofu stir fry.
Latin class was also very good. I DID A GOOD SIGHT TRANSLATION. It was a fairly simple sentence, but I read it quickly and easily. It's almost like old times :) I miss being able to read Latin like that. I used to be really good with sight translations, but I guess I got out of practice once I left Mr. Wimer's class. AP Latin did nothing for me; in fact, it might've hurt me. And, of course, I couldn't take any Latin during my senior year. Maybe I'll get good enough to take the Latin Composition class. I would love that.
I only had my Latin class today, so I didn't have to go to school until one. I decided to go a little earlier, however, because I wanted to see Dr. Helmstutler (my new Calculus II professor) and I had to meet with Sara and have my lunch before class. The "meeting" with Dr. Helmstutler was uneventful--it didn't happen. He was cozied up in his office chair and I actually think he was sleeping. There was no way I was going to wake him up just to tell him that I was actually able to get into the class and to ask him if I could have a syllabus.
I simply went downstairs to the computer science department. I translated my Latin for a little bit, but I got a cramp in my hand and I didn't really feel like doing any more. After I put my notebook away, I alternated between staring off into space and putting my head down on the table. I watched people walk by and listened to them. One guy rolled down a small "hill" in one of the halls and came flying past me in a rolling chair. I thought that was funny and I kind of wanted to try it, but I didn't want the whole department to be taken over by rolling-chair races. The place looks a whole lot bigger now that it got those new lab doors and some of the tables were removed, but it's still the narrow hallway that it's always been. Later on, I heard Stephen talking to a more advanced CS major about the "clueless 110 students." (And just so Dr. Davies doesn't sound mean--because he isn't--he also added that everyone is there at one point :))
It is pretty funny to think about just how clueless we all were. I really shouldn't say "were." Most of the class didn't continue with computer science, but the ones who did still are quite clueless--yes, I'm including myself in that statement. It's humbling to think about just how much I don't know yet. I made a lot of ridiculous mistakes in 110, a whole lot, but I honestly feel like I'm learning a lot of new stuff. It's an exciting process, one which isn't complete without screwing up a few good times.
That was my personal thought for the day. I basically turned that over in my head for the rest of my time in the department today.
After I left the basement, I went to wait for Sara. Sara is one of the co-presidents who will be taking over GALL after Mike graduates, and I think we're going to consider her the "main" president because most of the forms only allow a single president. She told me that she'd meet me in front of one of the buildings in order for me to give her the list of new GALL members that we got at Club Carnival. To make a long story short, it started pouring down rain while I waited half an hour for her. She never showed, but she just sent me a message, apologizing profusely and telling me that she completely forgot. I'm really not bothered at all; I just wish that someone else had the list so that we could go ahead and get an e-mail out to everyone about the upcoming meeting. It was actually kind of fun. I sat on one of the tables on the patio in front of the building and stayed under the umbrella. My shoes got wet, but it was okay. Mike actually ran out of the building, frolicking and shouting something about the rain, which made me laugh. I didn't even realize until after he was out of yelling distance that I could've just given him the list. I felt dumb :P
I did have lunch though, and it was very good. I had some delicious tofu stir fry. I always love a good tofu stir fry.
Latin class was also very good. I DID A GOOD SIGHT TRANSLATION. It was a fairly simple sentence, but I read it quickly and easily. It's almost like old times :) I miss being able to read Latin like that. I used to be really good with sight translations, but I guess I got out of practice once I left Mr. Wimer's class. AP Latin did nothing for me; in fact, it might've hurt me. And, of course, I couldn't take any Latin during my senior year. Maybe I'll get good enough to take the Latin Composition class. I would love that.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Blahhhhhh. Good blahhhhhh.
I am absolutely dead. Today was brutal.
I woke up at 6 AM today to translate a whole bunch of screwy Latin because I still hadn't finished it. The "passages" were scattered throughout a nine-page packet that was typed in ridiculously small print. To make matters worse, the Latin that I had to translate was mixed with lines of English and German. And to make matters even worse, it was super-archaic Latin and I couldn't recognize half of the words--neither could the dictionary. My only consolation was that I finished a lot of it and everyone else in the class told me that they had had a terrible time with it too. I felt really dumb at first, but I was so glad to hear that I wasn't the only person who thought that the assignment was ridiculously hard.
I also had my computer science class this morning. It was a lot of fun again. We learned about Unix commands. Stephen already taught us a whole lot of really cool ones last semester, as well as many of the ones we learned about today. I did learn a lot of new ones, though, and I didn't even mind that the class is about two hours long. Normally I hate classes that run longer than an hour because my attention gradually starts to decline.
Dr. Zaidman was talking about how we should save important things in two different locations. She gave an example of keeping a copy of a term paper saved on our hard drive and on a jump drive, but she told us that we don't have to do that for "trivial things," such as a letter to our parents. I couldn't help it. I started laughing, which made the guy behind me start laughing too. Dr. Zaidman smiled and told us that she didn't mean that sending a letter to our parents is a trivial matter. I know what she meant, but I still found it very amusing :D
I don't know if she likes me or not yet, but I hope that she does. Life is so much easier when your professors like you (or at least don't hate you). I also think she was talking to me when she stopped in the middle of the lecture and said, "You look very thoughtful and focused," or something like that. I was in my normal "Thinker" pose, with my chin nestled in my fingers and hand and my brow furrowed because of all the stuff bumping around in my brain. I was most certainly paying attention, so she wasn't being sarcastic. It didn't sound sarcastic anyway. I guess it was a compliment...?
Discrete math was a real treat last night. We started out by learning about binary, octal, and hexadecimal numbers. I knew that all three of them existed, and I already knew how to go from binary to decimal. I also knew how to go from decimal to binary, but I only knew the slow way. We learned the dividing by two method, and life is so much easier now. Did I ever mention that I think binary numbers are beautiful? There's just something very aesthetically pleasing about rows upon rows of ones and zeros. I know I'm weird, but I like to think that I'm capable of seeing beauty in lots of places, things, and events that most people don't notice.
I don't know why I just started to discuss discrete math when I haven't even finished writing about my hectic day yet. Sorry?
So, after Latin, I went to my first riding class of the semester. It was great except for the fact that I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. I don't drink much. I'm also hypotensive. The two are a dangerous combination, particularly in the heat or during most postural changes. Sometimes when I stand up, there's an overwhelming pressure in my head. My vision blacks out, I lose my balance, I have to support myself on any nearby objects, and sometimes my whole body goes numb. I've fallen down because of it and I've even had some sort of weird spasm because of it. I understand that the pressure comes from the constriction of blood vessels (an attempt to raise my blood pressure when it plummets), and I want to think that my vision blacks out because the blood wants to rush where it's more necessary--my brain instead of my eyes. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes sense to me. Is there a casual reader who wants to confirm or correct this in the comments?
I went in the barn and chugged water from the hose until I nearly felt sick from binge drinking :P Then I went back outside and finished riding.
As soon as I got back on campus from riding, I went out to the club carnival to make sure that someone had taken over the GALL table--or that there was even a GALL table. Sure enough, a few members had already put out our flyers and a poster. They were holding their own, so I browsed the other tables for a bit. I hadn't been in the middle of the mayhem for more than a few seconds when I was accosted by two random computer science majors who were representing the campus chapter of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). They were just bothering random people in hopes that some idiot would at least sign up (and never come), so they were extremely surprised when I told them that I'm a CS major. They informed me that I was practically required to put my name on their list after revealing that interesting fact, and they told me that Stephen would love me. I laughed at them too. They were funny guys.
I also found the PERL table, which was where I also signed up for the "girls' computer science club." I guess I'll make it to one or the other, perhaps both if I'm really lucky. I just can't miss GALL or any of my night classes (more on that later), and I don't know when they meet yet.
After I signed up for a few new clubs, I went to the GALL table to see if they needed any help. Sure enough, everyone who was there had other tables to tend, so I took over for an hour or so. It was fun to have people come over and ask me what GALL does. I gave them vivid descriptions of our most exciting projects. A couple of people asked me if GALL is like Improv Everywhere. It is; in fact, it's basically a local chapter of Improv Everywhere. Plenty of people asked me about guerrilla art, so I did my best to explain our activities to them. One girl approached and asked me what we do, but she stopped me after I described our April Fools' Day prank. She said that she didn't need to hear anything else because she was definitely in. One girl saw me in my riding clothes and asked if GALL is about riding. I told her that it isn't, but I gave her a lot of information about the riding classes at the school. She was very grateful for the information because she told me that she'd really love to ride one day. I was glad to help. Shanita, a wonderful girl who went to high school with me, even stopped by the table to talk to me. I asked her if she wanted to join GALL, but she told me that she doesn't do art anymore. She learned to dislike art in high school, which is a shame because she's an absolutely brilliant painter. I told her that she might like GALL because it's the kind of art we never would have done in high school. I gave her a pamphlet and I sure hope she comes :) I'm not much into drawing and painting anymore, but GALL makes me happy.
Shin splints, on the other hand, do not make me happy. I've been walking a whole lot. I didn't even wear my knee braces one day. Yeah. I've got shin splints now. It sucks because the fronts and sides of my calves hurt. I get shin splints pretty easily; I read somewhere that people whose ankles roll inward tend to get them more often. The chiropractor told me that mine do that a little, which is why my knees are so screwed up. I don't have an arch in my foot, which is why I need to wear supports in my shoes too. Hah, I wasn't sorry!
So...
After doing my duty for GALL, I rushed to the Intro to Linguistics class that I was hoping to get into. The professor told us in the beginning of the class that she doesn't normally do force-adds, so several people got up and left. I stayed, however. I figured I could at least enjoy the class and perhaps chat with her about a possible Linguistics/Latin special major. I'm so glad I did.
After the class was over, I approached the professor by telling her that I was hoping to create a major. She told me that she would be glad to help me. Then, she asked the obligatory year and credits question. I told her that I'm a sophomore and that I'm already declared Computer Science and Latin. She thought I was interested in combining computer science and linguistics for a Computational Linguistics major, but I quickly told her that I want to combine Latin with linguistics for a Linguistics/Latin (That title is actually short enough, so I'm either going to go with that or simply call it Linguistics.) major. The professor told me to come back next week--it's only on Wednesday nights, once a week--to sit in on the class and she'd know by then whether she could let me in or not. She told me that it was likely considering two people didn't show up for the first class meeting and no other students had approached her to force-add (read: She got all of the non-serious ones to leave and the stubborn one stayed.).
All in all, it was an exhausting but excellent day. I also got my Calculus I class approved--YES!--and I think I'm going to go to the class tomorrow and get the professor to add me even though the class is technically not on my transcripts yet. He was actually the one who approved the class since he's the one who teaches it, and he'd probably let me in if I just talk to him. Wooooooo :) I'm excited for this semester.
I woke up at 6 AM today to translate a whole bunch of screwy Latin because I still hadn't finished it. The "passages" were scattered throughout a nine-page packet that was typed in ridiculously small print. To make matters worse, the Latin that I had to translate was mixed with lines of English and German. And to make matters even worse, it was super-archaic Latin and I couldn't recognize half of the words--neither could the dictionary. My only consolation was that I finished a lot of it and everyone else in the class told me that they had had a terrible time with it too. I felt really dumb at first, but I was so glad to hear that I wasn't the only person who thought that the assignment was ridiculously hard.
I also had my computer science class this morning. It was a lot of fun again. We learned about Unix commands. Stephen already taught us a whole lot of really cool ones last semester, as well as many of the ones we learned about today. I did learn a lot of new ones, though, and I didn't even mind that the class is about two hours long. Normally I hate classes that run longer than an hour because my attention gradually starts to decline.
Dr. Zaidman was talking about how we should save important things in two different locations. She gave an example of keeping a copy of a term paper saved on our hard drive and on a jump drive, but she told us that we don't have to do that for "trivial things," such as a letter to our parents. I couldn't help it. I started laughing, which made the guy behind me start laughing too. Dr. Zaidman smiled and told us that she didn't mean that sending a letter to our parents is a trivial matter. I know what she meant, but I still found it very amusing :D
I don't know if she likes me or not yet, but I hope that she does. Life is so much easier when your professors like you (or at least don't hate you). I also think she was talking to me when she stopped in the middle of the lecture and said, "You look very thoughtful and focused," or something like that. I was in my normal "Thinker" pose, with my chin nestled in my fingers and hand and my brow furrowed because of all the stuff bumping around in my brain. I was most certainly paying attention, so she wasn't being sarcastic. It didn't sound sarcastic anyway. I guess it was a compliment...?
Discrete math was a real treat last night. We started out by learning about binary, octal, and hexadecimal numbers. I knew that all three of them existed, and I already knew how to go from binary to decimal. I also knew how to go from decimal to binary, but I only knew the slow way. We learned the dividing by two method, and life is so much easier now. Did I ever mention that I think binary numbers are beautiful? There's just something very aesthetically pleasing about rows upon rows of ones and zeros. I know I'm weird, but I like to think that I'm capable of seeing beauty in lots of places, things, and events that most people don't notice.
I don't know why I just started to discuss discrete math when I haven't even finished writing about my hectic day yet. Sorry?
So, after Latin, I went to my first riding class of the semester. It was great except for the fact that I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. I don't drink much. I'm also hypotensive. The two are a dangerous combination, particularly in the heat or during most postural changes. Sometimes when I stand up, there's an overwhelming pressure in my head. My vision blacks out, I lose my balance, I have to support myself on any nearby objects, and sometimes my whole body goes numb. I've fallen down because of it and I've even had some sort of weird spasm because of it. I understand that the pressure comes from the constriction of blood vessels (an attempt to raise my blood pressure when it plummets), and I want to think that my vision blacks out because the blood wants to rush where it's more necessary--my brain instead of my eyes. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes sense to me. Is there a casual reader who wants to confirm or correct this in the comments?
I went in the barn and chugged water from the hose until I nearly felt sick from binge drinking :P Then I went back outside and finished riding.
As soon as I got back on campus from riding, I went out to the club carnival to make sure that someone had taken over the GALL table--or that there was even a GALL table. Sure enough, a few members had already put out our flyers and a poster. They were holding their own, so I browsed the other tables for a bit. I hadn't been in the middle of the mayhem for more than a few seconds when I was accosted by two random computer science majors who were representing the campus chapter of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). They were just bothering random people in hopes that some idiot would at least sign up (and never come), so they were extremely surprised when I told them that I'm a CS major. They informed me that I was practically required to put my name on their list after revealing that interesting fact, and they told me that Stephen would love me. I laughed at them too. They were funny guys.
I also found the PERL table, which was where I also signed up for the "girls' computer science club." I guess I'll make it to one or the other, perhaps both if I'm really lucky. I just can't miss GALL or any of my night classes (more on that later), and I don't know when they meet yet.
After I signed up for a few new clubs, I went to the GALL table to see if they needed any help. Sure enough, everyone who was there had other tables to tend, so I took over for an hour or so. It was fun to have people come over and ask me what GALL does. I gave them vivid descriptions of our most exciting projects. A couple of people asked me if GALL is like Improv Everywhere. It is; in fact, it's basically a local chapter of Improv Everywhere. Plenty of people asked me about guerrilla art, so I did my best to explain our activities to them. One girl approached and asked me what we do, but she stopped me after I described our April Fools' Day prank. She said that she didn't need to hear anything else because she was definitely in. One girl saw me in my riding clothes and asked if GALL is about riding. I told her that it isn't, but I gave her a lot of information about the riding classes at the school. She was very grateful for the information because she told me that she'd really love to ride one day. I was glad to help. Shanita, a wonderful girl who went to high school with me, even stopped by the table to talk to me. I asked her if she wanted to join GALL, but she told me that she doesn't do art anymore. She learned to dislike art in high school, which is a shame because she's an absolutely brilliant painter. I told her that she might like GALL because it's the kind of art we never would have done in high school. I gave her a pamphlet and I sure hope she comes :) I'm not much into drawing and painting anymore, but GALL makes me happy.
Shin splints, on the other hand, do not make me happy. I've been walking a whole lot. I didn't even wear my knee braces one day. Yeah. I've got shin splints now. It sucks because the fronts and sides of my calves hurt. I get shin splints pretty easily; I read somewhere that people whose ankles roll inward tend to get them more often. The chiropractor told me that mine do that a little, which is why my knees are so screwed up. I don't have an arch in my foot, which is why I need to wear supports in my shoes too. Hah, I wasn't sorry!
So...
After doing my duty for GALL, I rushed to the Intro to Linguistics class that I was hoping to get into. The professor told us in the beginning of the class that she doesn't normally do force-adds, so several people got up and left. I stayed, however. I figured I could at least enjoy the class and perhaps chat with her about a possible Linguistics/Latin special major. I'm so glad I did.
After the class was over, I approached the professor by telling her that I was hoping to create a major. She told me that she would be glad to help me. Then, she asked the obligatory year and credits question. I told her that I'm a sophomore and that I'm already declared Computer Science and Latin. She thought I was interested in combining computer science and linguistics for a Computational Linguistics major, but I quickly told her that I want to combine Latin with linguistics for a Linguistics/Latin (That title is actually short enough, so I'm either going to go with that or simply call it Linguistics.) major. The professor told me to come back next week--it's only on Wednesday nights, once a week--to sit in on the class and she'd know by then whether she could let me in or not. She told me that it was likely considering two people didn't show up for the first class meeting and no other students had approached her to force-add (read: She got all of the non-serious ones to leave and the stubborn one stayed.).
All in all, it was an exhausting but excellent day. I also got my Calculus I class approved--YES!--and I think I'm going to go to the class tomorrow and get the professor to add me even though the class is technically not on my transcripts yet. He was actually the one who approved the class since he's the one who teaches it, and he'd probably let me in if I just talk to him. Wooooooo :) I'm excited for this semester.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Get ready for blog post overload--school is back in session.
I just finished with my classes for the day. I only had two actual classes along with a riding meeting, so it wasn't too much.
I left early for campus because I wanted breakfast and I assumed it would take forever for me to find a parking space. I got lost, re-oriented myself after finding my way out of a set of one-way streets that was obviously some sort of practical joke on the part of the planners, and finally went to the campus police station and demanded a commuter pass. For now, since I'm living off campus in some apartments that the college is renting out for us, I'm technically a commuting student. There were NO parking spaces available for me in any of the lots behind the dorms, and I finally took advantage of my temporary commuter pass to park in a special area of the college apartments (no, not where I live) lot. It honestly took 45 minutes of driving around, including the "infinite loop" that I got myself caught in.
Speaking of infinite loops, I did manage to have a little bit of breakfast before heading over to the computer science department for my first class. I even managed to get there early and look around.
Over the summer, the department got a major renovation. The computer lab got leveled out so that no one has to trip on their way in or out anymore. The lab got new doors that are glass, and the whole place got repainted to a creamy yellow. It looks much more open and spacious now. They even got some new furniture in the rooms, and I'm sure they were able to get some new equipment too. It was "very wow."
I sat down at one of the tables off to the side of the elevator and started to think. I mostly thought about my upcoming class as I stared into the freshly-painted walls of the basement. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard the familiar, friendly voice of Dr. Davies. We chatted for just a few moments; he seemed like he was busy, so I was happy to let him go back to his office.
A girl approached me and sat down beside me. She asked me if I'm enrolled in 220, so we started talking about the class. She's also a Computer Science major. I was actually really happy when I looked around the hall at all of the tables and saw...four girls and two guys :D I realized just how odd (read: amazing) the school actually is when I realized that about half of the class consisted of female students. That's pretty much unheard of. I had thought that I might be one of only a few (or the only) female student in the class, but I was very pleased to discover that I was wrong.
The class went very well. The professor was very nice. She's the department head, the lady I visited when I declared the major. I sat through the normal first-day speech on classroom procedures. We also went through the syllabus. I'm not terribly worried about it. We did a little bit of learning today. I didn't know some of the stuff I thought that I should have already known, but I was able to follow the discussions easily. I'll get there in time; Dr. Zaidman wouldn't be teaching it if we were expected to know it already. In fact, I've already cracked the book once today.
I went to Latin after lunch. There were actually 12 people in the class, which I was definitely not expecting.
I'll finish updating after I have dinner.
I left early for campus because I wanted breakfast and I assumed it would take forever for me to find a parking space. I got lost, re-oriented myself after finding my way out of a set of one-way streets that was obviously some sort of practical joke on the part of the planners, and finally went to the campus police station and demanded a commuter pass. For now, since I'm living off campus in some apartments that the college is renting out for us, I'm technically a commuting student. There were NO parking spaces available for me in any of the lots behind the dorms, and I finally took advantage of my temporary commuter pass to park in a special area of the college apartments (no, not where I live) lot. It honestly took 45 minutes of driving around, including the "infinite loop" that I got myself caught in.
Speaking of infinite loops, I did manage to have a little bit of breakfast before heading over to the computer science department for my first class. I even managed to get there early and look around.
Over the summer, the department got a major renovation. The computer lab got leveled out so that no one has to trip on their way in or out anymore. The lab got new doors that are glass, and the whole place got repainted to a creamy yellow. It looks much more open and spacious now. They even got some new furniture in the rooms, and I'm sure they were able to get some new equipment too. It was "very wow."
I sat down at one of the tables off to the side of the elevator and started to think. I mostly thought about my upcoming class as I stared into the freshly-painted walls of the basement. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard the familiar, friendly voice of Dr. Davies. We chatted for just a few moments; he seemed like he was busy, so I was happy to let him go back to his office.
A girl approached me and sat down beside me. She asked me if I'm enrolled in 220, so we started talking about the class. She's also a Computer Science major. I was actually really happy when I looked around the hall at all of the tables and saw...four girls and two guys :D I realized just how odd (read: amazing) the school actually is when I realized that about half of the class consisted of female students. That's pretty much unheard of. I had thought that I might be one of only a few (or the only) female student in the class, but I was very pleased to discover that I was wrong.
The class went very well. The professor was very nice. She's the department head, the lady I visited when I declared the major. I sat through the normal first-day speech on classroom procedures. We also went through the syllabus. I'm not terribly worried about it. We did a little bit of learning today. I didn't know some of the stuff I thought that I should have already known, but I was able to follow the discussions easily. I'll get there in time; Dr. Zaidman wouldn't be teaching it if we were expected to know it already. In fact, I've already cracked the book once today.
I went to Latin after lunch. There were actually 12 people in the class, which I was definitely not expecting.
I'll finish updating after I have dinner.
Friday, August 14, 2009
It's almost time.
I go back to school on August 23rd. I'm very, very excited about it, too :)
I've got a lot of my things packed, but I've still got a lot left to do. I'm going to be in temporary apartment housing until further notice. I don't even know if we'll be provided with a desk and chair, a refrigerator, seating in the living area, or anything else. I know they're providing us with beds that are similar to the ones at school, so I don't have to buy any new sheets. I'm just worried that I'll have to set up my computer on some of my packing boxes and sit in the floor to use it until I can get a desk and chair. I also really want a refrigerator--chocolate soymilk and Mountain Dew are best served cold.
I bought my two computer science books the day before yesterday. I'm so excited to get them. I got them off of eBay because they were both about $100--used--online at the school bookstore. CPSC 220 is, in fact, a Java class (hahaha). I already have a good Java compiler on my computer, so I won't have to search around and find one that works well with OS X. I have had a ridiculously hard time getting XCode to work, but I hope that I can. I'm going to keep trying because I hear that it's brilliant. The other book is a discrete mathematics and computer science text. I could only find one on eBay, but it was a whole lot less expensive than the one in the school's bookstore and it said that it was in good condition. The Java book was in brand new condition and saved me about $70 off of the used book price. I'm happy and I hope I get them soon. I still need to buy my Latin books. I didn't buy the books for my Classics class yet because I don't want to remain in the class. I want to switch out for a linguistics course and Calculus II.
I need to make sure that the community college sent my updated transcript to school for me. And I'm hoping that the school will take it. I'm hoping with everything I have.
I've got a lot of my things packed, but I've still got a lot left to do. I'm going to be in temporary apartment housing until further notice. I don't even know if we'll be provided with a desk and chair, a refrigerator, seating in the living area, or anything else. I know they're providing us with beds that are similar to the ones at school, so I don't have to buy any new sheets. I'm just worried that I'll have to set up my computer on some of my packing boxes and sit in the floor to use it until I can get a desk and chair. I also really want a refrigerator--chocolate soymilk and Mountain Dew are best served cold.
I bought my two computer science books the day before yesterday. I'm so excited to get them. I got them off of eBay because they were both about $100--used--online at the school bookstore. CPSC 220 is, in fact, a Java class (hahaha). I already have a good Java compiler on my computer, so I won't have to search around and find one that works well with OS X. I have had a ridiculously hard time getting XCode to work, but I hope that I can. I'm going to keep trying because I hear that it's brilliant. The other book is a discrete mathematics and computer science text. I could only find one on eBay, but it was a whole lot less expensive than the one in the school's bookstore and it said that it was in good condition. The Java book was in brand new condition and saved me about $70 off of the used book price. I'm happy and I hope I get them soon. I still need to buy my Latin books. I didn't buy the books for my Classics class yet because I don't want to remain in the class. I want to switch out for a linguistics course and Calculus II.
I need to make sure that the community college sent my updated transcript to school for me. And I'm hoping that the school will take it. I'm hoping with everything I have.
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