Jer

New Semester, New Blog

Well, I was asked to blog again this coming year as well, so my updates will be falling in the Jer 09/10 blog now. The blogging crew is working overtime to get everything up and running at the new place, so be patient for just a bit long and the new, improved, and more visually interesting blogs will be up soon. I'll post a link here when it is up. Until then, I'm going back to doing homework...*sigh*

Welcome Back

One of the great things about going to school here is all of the things going on around campus at any given time. Students can easily nab a free meal at least once per week from the various clubs, frats, sororities, and functions going on at any given time. Last Wednesday was no exception. On the 19th of September, the school threw a huge shindig in the center of campus than provided food, informational booths, and entertaining events for several hours around lunch time. I spent a couple of hours manning the ACM table near the Engineering buildings and watching the CECS rodeo bull abuse the student body.

Not one to leave well enough alone, I took a few minutes to snatch some horribly ugly footage with my cellphone so that I could share with the intarwebs...

(a link in case the embed doesn't work)

It was a blast, everyone seemed to have a great time, and between hotdogs and beverages supplied by CECS and nachos and cotton candy provided by SWE (yes, women...and engineers...*le sigh*) there was plenty of food to be had along with the fun. If you haven't taken some time to wander around campus or to check out some of the events that go on, you are definitely missing out—now I wish I didn't have so much homework to do, so I could go play lazer tag with the SWE girls...you hear that teachers, you are KILLING me!

Expenses and Weekend Plans

$600

That's what I dropped on books this semester. Ouch. Amongst my peers, I don't even have the most expensive tally, but that $600 includes both new and used books for the three courses I'm taking this semester that have a required text. Financial aid or no, that stings the pocket a bit. At least they're interesting books that I might actually get some use out of.

On a happier note, this weekend is the 7th annual Tour de Troit, a 30 mile relaxed group ride through downtown Detroit to raise money for development of the Mexicantown-Corktown Greenlink. I have ridden this for several years now, and look forward to getting in what will probably be my only group ride for the season this year. It's only $30 for students if you register by Friday, so if you are into cycling at all and want to help out a great cause, you should sign up!

If you are going to be there, look for me in a lime-green Team Alpaca T-Shirt or watch my Twitter feed (@jer_) for location information. Hope to see you out there!

Well, back to class...Operating Systems here we come...

Day 1 - Hungry, Sweaty, Achy & Tired

So, I'm sitting in the classroom of my third class of the evening killing time until it's start in about a half hour. A half hour, it should be noted, is just shy of enough time to leave campus and grab something to eat and just barely enough time to snatch something up from the UC. Of course, that option sounds not entirely appetizing, since I had lunch there a few hours ago. My schedule is going to be a problem, I think.

You see, when I set up this schedule, I was pretty excited. Nearly my entire semester can be done in two days, Tuesday and Thursday, so my schedule was glorious. Monday evening for one class, and Tuesday/Thursday from about two to eight.

Then work asked me to teach two back-to-back intro classes on Tuesday/Thursday mornings. "Well," I thought, "that means that I only have ANYTHING to do three days per week, and one of those is a really short day, so that's not all bad." The me that thought that is a moron. Here's how my day shook out:

• 8:00am - Open up the lab. Plenty of time to catch a breakfast at home before I leave. No sweat!

• 9:40am - My morning class. Stand in front of a class for 90 minutes giving lecture.

• 11:10am - My next morning class. Stand in front of another class for 90 more minutes giving lecture...after a 10 minute break from the last one. Yes, on lecture days, I will have spoken for a nearly uninterrupted 3 hours at this point. Fortunately, today was lab day, so I just circled like a shark for 3 hours helping students follow instructions.

• 1:40pm - I have a one hour break to grab some food and head from work to here and hit my classroom in the center of campus. It is enough time, if I choose to do lunch at the UC (or, as I'm hoping to do in the future, grab lunch from home and bring it with). Settle in now for two hours of class.

  The upside, the teacher seems really into the material and this class is like a who's who of my college experience thus far. All of my favorite classmates have convened here. Then we all took a nap by accident. I hope I didn't snore.

• 3:50pm - I have twenty minutes to go about 80 steps for my next class. Half of my classmates from last class, however, accompany me because we are all in this class...plus we pick up some more stragglers from some 200 and 300 level courses to round out the group. In all, it's been like a "sophomore year class reunion" today. This instructor is reasonably entertaining, although his slides are in Comic Sans, so I spent quite a bit of time wanting to claw my eyes out. Generally speaking, I think I'm going to enjoy the class. (Having a hot chick for a homework partner isn't going to hurt, either) Two hours to go...

• 6:10pm - That brings me to now...Robotics. After doing the wild goose chase to find where our class has been moved to (a college staple that never gets old, eh folks?) there's no time for food, and I just found out the the TBA lab that goes with this class has been scheduled for immediately following... that's right, my 6-8pm class is now a 6-8 and 8-10pm class. Ouch. Definitely going to have to figure out food arrangements.

So I am hungry...sweaty from jogging my robust form all over campus...my back is aching from the thousand pounds of books hanging off my back (all $600 of them...ack)...and I'm exhausted from being awake entirely too long already. I must be back to school.

Aaaaaaaand, we're back...

Schooooooool's out...for...summ...

Wait, where did the bloody summer go? Is next week seriously September?

This summer has blown by in a flurry of vacations, conventions, weddings, and three or four warm days. I am entirely unready to get back to the academic grind. At work, the classes I am teaching started up Thursday, which only made the situation worse; you see, I get TWO first days of school. But now I am warming up to the notion of starting my Senior year.

1. My medical issues are behind me, or at least have abated enough to not be a distraction
2. I have no major events happening that I am managing during this semester
3. I am genuinely excited about this semester's courseload

This all adds up to a pretty enthralling semester-to-be. Now, I am all about making life easier for folks, so to make things simpler for my stalkers, here is what I'll be doing this semester...

• Software Engineering I (CIS375) - 1:40-3:30 TR with Xu
  [Because I must...]
• Industrial Robots (CIS381) - 6:10-8:00 R with Chen
  [Seriously, who doesn't love robots? Oh, there's a lab sometime for this.]
• Operating Systems (CIS450) - 3:50-5:40 TR with Wang
  [I have heard that this is rather labor intensive.]
• Appl Business Tech for Engr (ENGR400-02) - 6:10-9:00 M with Kachhal
  [Ahh, the infamous ENG400, at least I have a friend in this one]

I look forward to seeing y'all around campus!

Bust Out the Spring Clothes!

Ahh, spring on a college campus! Students out wandering around in clothing that—were this fall and the temperature was FALLING to the mid 60s—would be considered far too cold, but since the temperature is RISING into the mid 60s, it's more than warm enough. Guys are not immune to this phenomenon, I know I spent the day delightfully coat-less, but with the women the effect is far more pronounce (and far more appreciated).

Let me say that I also appreciate that the school has set up several spots around campus at which students can sit outdoors, enjoy the weather, and work with full access to the school's WiFi. I spent several hours today enjoying the weather while knocking down some Java homework. Heavy, bulky sweaters, coats, and pants have given way to capris, stretch pants, low-cut shirts, and lighter materials. Thank whatever-god-you-might-worship for warm weather. :)

On a more serious note, it's hard to believe we're on the far side of spring break cruising rapidly toward the end of the semester. In fact, registration for Summer/Spring and Fall classes open very soon...lunacy! It seems like only a scant few weeks ago that the semester was just kicking off, and now we're entering the home stretch.

I have decided that I will take this summer off, and get a bit of relaxing with just work and family to occupy my time for a few months. Then, this fall, I'm back into the fold full-speed to finish out my 3-or-4-semester senior year. It seems that the way classes are arranged, what would have been a busy 3 semester finisher is going to actually be a slightly-less-busy 4 semester finish. Oh well, it is what it is.

Until next time, enjoy the weather!

I'm Special!

In the same week I made the Dean's List, I was notified that my name is going to be on a list of people who are excelling academically in my department, and I was invited to join the Upsilon Pi Epsilon. Apparently, despite the fact that I'm more than a bit disappointed in my no-longer-4.0 GPA, I'm not doing TOO poorly. This makes me happy.

A Little Bit Meta

Apparently, we bloggers have recently gotten a bit of press in the school paper and with a relatively prominent link from the "current students" section of the UM-D website. It's nice to get a little press, eh? And check me out, surrounded by a bunch of hot ladies on the "Meet the Bloggers" page. Oh, the fiery passion with which I hate that picture, though; come on, I'm not THAT big! Well, okay, perhaps I am that big, but I don't need a photo that fails entirely to minimize that.

I often feel like I don't have enough to say on this thing, because so little of my life is actual campus life. I feel like the folks involved in the greek organizations or attend all of the parties make a better portrait of what it is like to go to college.

But that's not really accurate, is it? The US Census describes over one third of college students as people like me; over 25, employed at least part time, often parents. In fact, depending on your definition of "non-traditional", some statistics say that there are more of us than those more "traditional." So when I describe how hectic it is getting my homework and the homework of my two children done while trying to prepare dinner and make a meeting of one of the student organizations, I'm describing something all too many of you students and prospective students know all too well.

Pretty heady stuff, eh?

So, if you are recently joining us, directed in by the recent articles or links, welcome! Hopefully you find this enlightening, informative, or at least mildly entertaining. And trust me, this college thing is surely easier to do than I make it seem. :)

Falling Asleep at the Keyboard

I am not typically given to overstatement, so please understand how serious I am when I say that I am utterly and completely exhausted...this was my light semester!!

Projects, programs, work, studying, children, extracurriculars, and everything else in my life are slowly caving in on me; spring break cannot arrive quickly enough!

Wednesday's ACM Programming competition went great— a bit problematic, but it came off brilliantly—and I am rather excited to get another one going right away...but that will have to wait. I just got done with the homework that is due tomorrow and I'm about to start the one that is due Thursday. At some point this evening, I have to take one more shot at proofing an exam I'm administering tomorrow and I need to make some more headway on the algorithm for the program due right after the break. I need to study for the two tests that take place next week so I do better than the low B that I got on Thursday's exam.

Oh, wait, and I should finish the program due next week too.

Argh?

This weekend, though, it's relaxation time. I am taking a trip to Chicago, seeing some friends and enjoying a brief (and entirely necessary) respite before diving back into the fray. (Speaking of the fray, The Fray's new album is fantastic, give it a listen).

So Much Going on On Campus

Today I had a chance to sit in on a really entertaining lecture about quantum computers courtesy of the Math department, and tomorrow is the ACM Programming Competition. Between fun events like these, homework, and work-work, I'm about going out of my mind... but it's a good out-of-my-mind. :)

I'm told that enrollment is up, and it certainly feels that way. The UC is pretty solidly crowded and parking is a bit more of a challenge than normal, but my schedule must be pretty sweet, because I rarely have an issue getting a spot.

All said, I'm really feeling the stress this semester, which is probably bad this early on...fortunately, Spring Break is coming up in just a few short weeks and with that comes one week during which I can catch up on my work. How boring am I? Most students look forward to Spring Break as a time of partying and relaxation, I consider it a chance for catchup.