An Update . . . .
So I haven't done this for a while, but I don't want to totally lose touch with folks, so here goes.
Tomorrow I start the new semester. Last semester was horribly busy for me, but fairly successful (I did very well in all of my classes), and that's behind me. This semester looks to be a bit more sane, but only a bit. I'm taking four classes, Physics 311 - Electricity and Magnetism, Physics 301 - Stars and Planets, Math 220 - Discrete Mathematics, Environmental Science 101 - Environment and Society. But, lest it look like I'm slacking, I'm also doing research with one of my physics professors. He's working on hydrogen storage in carbon nanomaterials. Not to mention that I'm continuing to work my usual 10 hours or so a week, and I might take another 1 credit class just for fun.
So I'll be busy. But hopefully not as busy as last semester, where I took two nights off a week, Friday and Saturday, and that was just about it. I do have three problem sets a week, though, so balancing that will be interesting. However, as usual, I'm looking forward to all of my classes. I continue to greatly enjoy Oberlin, both the people and the place, though right now it's a touch cold here (2 degrees, plus a wind chill of ~20 degrees).
Lets see . . . what else. I'll skip most of last semester, just because it was so busy. I made some friends, kept up with old ones, grew closer to some, lost touch with a few. The usual. I went to a lot of musical events (of most note: Juan Diego Florez, and the opera Elixir of Love), and generally survived.
Over winter break, my dad and his close family went to Fiji, where I was able to join them for a week or so. That was fantastic, though over too quickly. I, of course, didn't tan, because I never do.
That threw me back into Portland for a few days, where I tried desperately to see all my friends and family before I went back to Oberlin for winter term. I somewhat succeeded. And then I was back in Oberlin for our Winter Term (month of January to do an independent project of some type). I developed a holography lab for the physics department, which will be integrated into the curriculum next year.
As I did last year, I spent winter term cooking with a group of 5 other folks. The food was good, as was the company, and I'm sad to see it go, but we don't have time for it during the semester, not to mention that we're back on board now. But overall, winter term was very enjoyable, more so than last year.
Right now, I'm just about finished with some applications for summer research programs. I'm looking to do physics research through the REU (Research Experience for Undergraduate) programs they offer. I'll update you on that once I know which ones I've gotten into (hopefully I'll get into some!).
That's about the score. There's a lot more, no doubt, but I've got to do some prep for my classes tomorrow, so I'll leave it at this.
Tomorrow I start the new semester. Last semester was horribly busy for me, but fairly successful (I did very well in all of my classes), and that's behind me. This semester looks to be a bit more sane, but only a bit. I'm taking four classes, Physics 311 - Electricity and Magnetism, Physics 301 - Stars and Planets, Math 220 - Discrete Mathematics, Environmental Science 101 - Environment and Society. But, lest it look like I'm slacking, I'm also doing research with one of my physics professors. He's working on hydrogen storage in carbon nanomaterials. Not to mention that I'm continuing to work my usual 10 hours or so a week, and I might take another 1 credit class just for fun.
So I'll be busy. But hopefully not as busy as last semester, where I took two nights off a week, Friday and Saturday, and that was just about it. I do have three problem sets a week, though, so balancing that will be interesting. However, as usual, I'm looking forward to all of my classes. I continue to greatly enjoy Oberlin, both the people and the place, though right now it's a touch cold here (2 degrees, plus a wind chill of ~20 degrees).
Lets see . . . what else. I'll skip most of last semester, just because it was so busy. I made some friends, kept up with old ones, grew closer to some, lost touch with a few. The usual. I went to a lot of musical events (of most note: Juan Diego Florez, and the opera Elixir of Love), and generally survived.
Over winter break, my dad and his close family went to Fiji, where I was able to join them for a week or so. That was fantastic, though over too quickly. I, of course, didn't tan, because I never do.
That threw me back into Portland for a few days, where I tried desperately to see all my friends and family before I went back to Oberlin for winter term. I somewhat succeeded. And then I was back in Oberlin for our Winter Term (month of January to do an independent project of some type). I developed a holography lab for the physics department, which will be integrated into the curriculum next year.
As I did last year, I spent winter term cooking with a group of 5 other folks. The food was good, as was the company, and I'm sad to see it go, but we don't have time for it during the semester, not to mention that we're back on board now. But overall, winter term was very enjoyable, more so than last year.
Right now, I'm just about finished with some applications for summer research programs. I'm looking to do physics research through the REU (Research Experience for Undergraduate) programs they offer. I'll update you on that once I know which ones I've gotten into (hopefully I'll get into some!).
That's about the score. There's a lot more, no doubt, but I've got to do some prep for my classes tomorrow, so I'll leave it at this.