Done!
I am officially done with my first year of grad school. I had my last only final exam this morning for my stats class. It went fairly well, and although I don't have my grades back yet, I am almost certain that I couldn't have done badly enough to bring myself down a grade level. So that's sweet. Also, I was surprised to see that my Research Methods professor posted grades for my last few assignments (which were worth more than all of the points I had earned all semester up to that point), and she actually gave me good grades on them! I'm trying to care less about grades and more about mastery of the material, but I have to say, that made my day.
I'm going to be in Michigan for a week, spending some time at home and some at my dad's house, before I hit the ground running on my thesis work and a bunch of other random things I want to accomplish. I need to make a summer to-do list at some point, but the major goals include proposing my Master's thesis, taking a summer class in American Sign Language, reading (both for research and for fun), and developing an exercise plan that I can actually stick to.
In other news, I bought a guitar! It's just a used one that I'll be using for a couple of months (or maybe a little longer), until I can afford a nicer one and actually appreciate a higher quality instrument. I got a great deal at the local guitar store for $50. Normally, that price tag would make me wonder whether the instrument is about to break, but it just has a bunch of minor cosmetic issues (dents, scratches, and so forth). It actually plays very well, better than David's, whose guitar has been challenging to learn on because it requires so much pressure to get the strings all the way down. (His is old and equally damaged, and it goes out of tune pretty quickly.) I'm excited to learn more and keep up with playing this summer! I know a bunch of open chords, although I'm still working on smoother chord transitions, and I'm just starting to get the hang of barre chords. I can play a few very simple songs, too! Fun times.
If you're in west Michigan and want to hang out, let me know. I'll be free between Saturday and Tuesday. Otherwise, I hope you're all doing well and having a great day!
I'm going to be in Michigan for a week, spending some time at home and some at my dad's house, before I hit the ground running on my thesis work and a bunch of other random things I want to accomplish. I need to make a summer to-do list at some point, but the major goals include proposing my Master's thesis, taking a summer class in American Sign Language, reading (both for research and for fun), and developing an exercise plan that I can actually stick to.
In other news, I bought a guitar! It's just a used one that I'll be using for a couple of months (or maybe a little longer), until I can afford a nicer one and actually appreciate a higher quality instrument. I got a great deal at the local guitar store for $50. Normally, that price tag would make me wonder whether the instrument is about to break, but it just has a bunch of minor cosmetic issues (dents, scratches, and so forth). It actually plays very well, better than David's, whose guitar has been challenging to learn on because it requires so much pressure to get the strings all the way down. (His is old and equally damaged, and it goes out of tune pretty quickly.) I'm excited to learn more and keep up with playing this summer! I know a bunch of open chords, although I'm still working on smoother chord transitions, and I'm just starting to get the hang of barre chords. I can play a few very simple songs, too! Fun times.
If you're in west Michigan and want to hang out, let me know. I'll be free between Saturday and Tuesday. Otherwise, I hope you're all doing well and having a great day!