Finishing Out This Semester!
Back from Spring Break. I had a really great opportunity this break in that my friend, Allison, has an aunt and uncle who live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They decided this week to be super nice and stay with some friends so we could stay in their condo. (I guess it was kind of a nice vacation for them too, but still--super generous!) So, we had free lodging and some free food! Other than that we only spent money on the plane tickets and groceries, so I had an extremely affordable week of swimming, lounging, and eating in Florida. That's basically all we did and I don't care how lame you think it is, I totally needed a lazy week. Other than Scrabble, I did zero thinking. Wooooo!
Midsemester grades came out. (Along with a spiffy new SIO website. Graphs tracking my QPA over time? That's kind of awesome.) I'm not horribly thrilled with my grades at the moment, but all of them are salvageable...
-Russian: B+ (Completely acceptable. Probably able to move to an A based on last semester's performance in Elem Russ I.)
-LingAnal: B (A little surprising given that I didn't do one of the five assignments and only did meh on the rest--twerner is very generous with class attendance. Maybe with a hw4 redo, I can make this an A, but a B here would be acceptable.)
-CogPsych: C (Had a rough start with not preparing well for quizzes. I prepared, but not effectively. The first exam was also a huge set back since I neglected to have the textbook as a resource. However, the second exam I got a perfect score, so I'm thinking this grade can be at least a B, maybe even an A)
-Demons: C (Not all that surprising. I got a tad behind on "Demons" which is a huge book with some complicated plots, so making up for that in class discussion was difficult. Hopefully while I focus on this next essay this weekend, I can get a decent grade. If I manage the reading better, participate in class, this grade can be a B or maybe better.)
-Econ: R (Okay, so that's the killer. However, it's not a very accurate grade. The last exam I entirely bombed. That week was spent focusing on CogPsych's exam which clearly paid off for that class. I get to drop one exam in CogPsych, which will be the first. I also get to drop one exam in Econ, which will be this last one. Hopefully after that my grades will be greatly improved. There's still attendance and homework to account for, which I've been doing fine on. I don't expect this grade to be below a C. In fact, I sort of expect it to be a B, but we'll have to see.)
Despite my not-so-amazing grades though, my midsemester QPA is still at 2.14. This is acceptable for now. With the expected increases to each class' grade, I should be able to get that up to at least a 3.0, and optimistically a 3.5. That's a lofty goal, but being on honor roll for a semester would be super sweet!
3/15-3/21: This upcoming week is what's known as Greek Sing's Hell Week. It's kinda like Move On for Booth: rehearsals every night, people being expected to help out a lot more with costumes and sets, stress levels going up, etc. However, I don't think I'll have a horrible amount of homework on my plate this week, so I think I can make it until Saturday when GS finally happens.
3/22-3/28: Greek Sing will be over! This week will probably be a lot of PuzzleHunt finalization and also Clues Week (something for AXO about big/little sisters--probably not too time consuming, but also sounds like fun). Basically I'm going to have a super cryptic week. :) And at the end of the week, CtFwS! This doesn't require a lot of work from me (I swear I will never judge--I will never grasp the game well enough!) but I'm pretty stoked to play!
3/29-4/4: The week is pretty straightforward. Another essay due, but other than that it will probably involve a lot of PuzzleHunt again because at the end of the week is the actual hunt. Unfortunately this is one of the worst conflicts I've had all year. I'll also have AXO Initiation on the same day. Hopefully I'll be able to be around for the start and/or end of PuzzleHunt, but I'm doubtful I'll get to help with a lot of the logistical bookkeeping in the middle. This saddens me greatly, but I think since it's the less-interactive online style hunt, we should be okay.
4/5-4/11: AUO concert in the middle of the week which ends AUO for the semester. Also MOVE ON! I'll be in Super Booth Mode for this week, I predict. I'll have an Econ exam at the beginning of the week which will require some focusing, but after that's out of the way (and hopefully aced!) I should be set to go for moving KGB (and possibly a bit of AXO) on. (NB: I will mostly be helping KGB. They're my first Booth doods. I will probably end up doing some kind of painting for AXO Booth, but not much else. Can't stretch myself too thin here.)
4/12-4/18: Scotch 'n' Soda may be eating up some of my time this week. I'm not sure if I'm going to commit to lighting crew just yet... or any of the crews. I might have to go back on my signatures on the crew sign-up sheets, but I don't think I'd be too horribly missed. Sometimes something's gotta go. This weekend is also Carnival! Omg, so much awesome! :D This means Kiltie will draw to an end for the semester as well. Ah, free time. :)
4/19-4/25: This week is looking super great. I don't have an exam. I might have an essay? We'll see. No more musical commitments. And there's AXO Formal! That should be fun. :)
4/26-5/2: The last week of classes! Unfortunately heavy on schoolwork with final assignments, essays, and even an exam on my last class on Friday. However, the KGB end of year picnic will come, which is always fun and relaxing. However, the weekend will most likely be spent studying for my Monday morning Econ final exam.
5/3-5/11: (Extended to include all of finals). I have three sit-in finals. Econ Monday morning, CogPsych Friday afternoon, and LingAnal second Monday evening. Well-spaced as my exams tend to be--just the way I like it. I imagine I'll have a final paper for Demons and a final speaking session for Russian--should be good on those. Other than that, I'm good! Finals Weeks I actually really enjoy--sure, you sit and study, but you get to focus all your time on one task. It's a nice change of pace.
After finals? Well, hopefully I'll be starting one of two summer jobs I applied for:
1) Summer research here on campus with the Psychology Department. They are making a digital catalog of human noises made by adults. They are basically looking for linguistics majors/language wankers, so this is right up my alley! It's 40 hours a week of sitting at a desk, digitizing sounds, and labeling in IPA (with a great pay and research experience no less!) What more could I want?! And it would be on campus, which means cheap housing would be completely available, and hanging out with people would be doable. I have an interview for this on Tuesday. There's only one opening... I reallllllly hope I don't blow it. :(
2) I also applied to an editing internship with a company called McGraw-Hill. They make materials for enhancing the world of investment and education... I guess. Sort of vague, but I'm sure the internship would be a good fit. It's in Chicago, which means I'd need to find housing. Wouldn't be as cheap, but it's a paid internship, so I might make a profit. But I'd be happy to be there! Turns out I know a good amount of people who live in or near Chicago. Also, having visiting the city recently, I'd be super excited to go back. I'd rather do the research at CMU, I think, but this position seems to have more openings, so it might be more doable. I've yet to here about the next step for this. We'll just have to see.
Midsemester grades came out. (Along with a spiffy new SIO website. Graphs tracking my QPA over time? That's kind of awesome.) I'm not horribly thrilled with my grades at the moment, but all of them are salvageable...
-Russian: B+ (Completely acceptable. Probably able to move to an A based on last semester's performance in Elem Russ I.)
-LingAnal: B (A little surprising given that I didn't do one of the five assignments and only did meh on the rest--twerner is very generous with class attendance. Maybe with a hw4 redo, I can make this an A, but a B here would be acceptable.)
-CogPsych: C (Had a rough start with not preparing well for quizzes. I prepared, but not effectively. The first exam was also a huge set back since I neglected to have the textbook as a resource. However, the second exam I got a perfect score, so I'm thinking this grade can be at least a B, maybe even an A)
-Demons: C (Not all that surprising. I got a tad behind on "Demons" which is a huge book with some complicated plots, so making up for that in class discussion was difficult. Hopefully while I focus on this next essay this weekend, I can get a decent grade. If I manage the reading better, participate in class, this grade can be a B or maybe better.)
-Econ: R (Okay, so that's the killer. However, it's not a very accurate grade. The last exam I entirely bombed. That week was spent focusing on CogPsych's exam which clearly paid off for that class. I get to drop one exam in CogPsych, which will be the first. I also get to drop one exam in Econ, which will be this last one. Hopefully after that my grades will be greatly improved. There's still attendance and homework to account for, which I've been doing fine on. I don't expect this grade to be below a C. In fact, I sort of expect it to be a B, but we'll have to see.)
Despite my not-so-amazing grades though, my midsemester QPA is still at 2.14. This is acceptable for now. With the expected increases to each class' grade, I should be able to get that up to at least a 3.0, and optimistically a 3.5. That's a lofty goal, but being on honor roll for a semester would be super sweet!
3/15-3/21: This upcoming week is what's known as Greek Sing's Hell Week. It's kinda like Move On for Booth: rehearsals every night, people being expected to help out a lot more with costumes and sets, stress levels going up, etc. However, I don't think I'll have a horrible amount of homework on my plate this week, so I think I can make it until Saturday when GS finally happens.
3/22-3/28: Greek Sing will be over! This week will probably be a lot of PuzzleHunt finalization and also Clues Week (something for AXO about big/little sisters--probably not too time consuming, but also sounds like fun). Basically I'm going to have a super cryptic week. :) And at the end of the week, CtFwS! This doesn't require a lot of work from me (I swear I will never judge--I will never grasp the game well enough!) but I'm pretty stoked to play!
3/29-4/4: The week is pretty straightforward. Another essay due, but other than that it will probably involve a lot of PuzzleHunt again because at the end of the week is the actual hunt. Unfortunately this is one of the worst conflicts I've had all year. I'll also have AXO Initiation on the same day. Hopefully I'll be able to be around for the start and/or end of PuzzleHunt, but I'm doubtful I'll get to help with a lot of the logistical bookkeeping in the middle. This saddens me greatly, but I think since it's the less-interactive online style hunt, we should be okay.
4/5-4/11: AUO concert in the middle of the week which ends AUO for the semester. Also MOVE ON! I'll be in Super Booth Mode for this week, I predict. I'll have an Econ exam at the beginning of the week which will require some focusing, but after that's out of the way (and hopefully aced!) I should be set to go for moving KGB (and possibly a bit of AXO) on. (NB: I will mostly be helping KGB. They're my first Booth doods. I will probably end up doing some kind of painting for AXO Booth, but not much else. Can't stretch myself too thin here.)
4/12-4/18: Scotch 'n' Soda may be eating up some of my time this week. I'm not sure if I'm going to commit to lighting crew just yet... or any of the crews. I might have to go back on my signatures on the crew sign-up sheets, but I don't think I'd be too horribly missed. Sometimes something's gotta go. This weekend is also Carnival! Omg, so much awesome! :D This means Kiltie will draw to an end for the semester as well. Ah, free time. :)
4/19-4/25: This week is looking super great. I don't have an exam. I might have an essay? We'll see. No more musical commitments. And there's AXO Formal! That should be fun. :)
4/26-5/2: The last week of classes! Unfortunately heavy on schoolwork with final assignments, essays, and even an exam on my last class on Friday. However, the KGB end of year picnic will come, which is always fun and relaxing. However, the weekend will most likely be spent studying for my Monday morning Econ final exam.
5/3-5/11: (Extended to include all of finals). I have three sit-in finals. Econ Monday morning, CogPsych Friday afternoon, and LingAnal second Monday evening. Well-spaced as my exams tend to be--just the way I like it. I imagine I'll have a final paper for Demons and a final speaking session for Russian--should be good on those. Other than that, I'm good! Finals Weeks I actually really enjoy--sure, you sit and study, but you get to focus all your time on one task. It's a nice change of pace.
After finals? Well, hopefully I'll be starting one of two summer jobs I applied for:
1) Summer research here on campus with the Psychology Department. They are making a digital catalog of human noises made by adults. They are basically looking for linguistics majors/language wankers, so this is right up my alley! It's 40 hours a week of sitting at a desk, digitizing sounds, and labeling in IPA (with a great pay and research experience no less!) What more could I want?! And it would be on campus, which means cheap housing would be completely available, and hanging out with people would be doable. I have an interview for this on Tuesday. There's only one opening... I reallllllly hope I don't blow it. :(
2) I also applied to an editing internship with a company called McGraw-Hill. They make materials for enhancing the world of investment and education... I guess. Sort of vague, but I'm sure the internship would be a good fit. It's in Chicago, which means I'd need to find housing. Wouldn't be as cheap, but it's a paid internship, so I might make a profit. But I'd be happy to be there! Turns out I know a good amount of people who live in or near Chicago. Also, having visiting the city recently, I'd be super excited to go back. I'd rather do the research at CMU, I think, but this position seems to have more openings, so it might be more doable. I've yet to here about the next step for this. We'll just have to see.