One year down

So my first year of grad school is almost over. It's been pretty good, like Taylor but with fewer people and more math. And by people I mean people that I actually know and interact with, and by math I mean nonsense that no one uses except professors, and them only to pass it on to us. Since my last post I have bought a car, gotten 2 B's, joined an engineering honor society and a cubesat team, watched 4 seasons of The Office, gained 15 pounds worth of oreos and candy corn, gone to 3 job fairs, taught 100 sophomores how to use oscilloscopes, saved the neighbor's russian blue cat from certain death only to let it out of the building to never be seen again, bonded with my roommate, joined a bible study, and road tripped to florida.

Classes this semester have been rough, there is the possibility of having to repeat some of them. I need to do really well on the final in one in particular. If I fail at least it will be easy the second time around. I can slip it into my last semester pretty easily too, so it wouldn't be the end of the world.

TAing has been going a lot better this semester, now that I know the ropes. Actually it's going marginally better and I'm putting a ton less work into it. I'm teaching an introductory electronics lab, so basically I talk for 15-20 minutes in front of 50 or so undergraduates a week and then supervise as they find ways to mess up simple things. It's kind of rewarding to go around with all the answers and handle everybody's questions. The grading takes forever and it's SO BORING. I guess there's the possibility of getting into an easier course where I just have to sit around and answer questions, but I'm already pretty well established in this one. It's a half time TA, but I'm hoping by the last semester that I can get away with putting fewer than 10 hours a week into it. This semester I got a $500 scholarship for being an outstanding TA, but I got the impression it's the kind of thing that every TA that's doing their job eventually gets.

I've been going to Kossuth Street Baptist church since last semester and I joined a bible study there, but it's been a pretty rough semester spiritually, as andrew can attest to. I've really let school dominate a lot of my daily habit stuff I should be doing.

I found an summer internship with a small robotics company in Indy for the summer. I'm over an hour away, so I hooked up with another intern and found an apartment in Indy for the summer. We visited it last weekend to check everything out, and it seems really workable for 3 months. Not particularly in shape or spotless, but big and cheap and we didn't have to sign anything. It's right in the middle of the Broad Ripple area, so there's a lot going on there within walking distance. The guy I'm sharing it with seems pretty easy going, he's a junior in EE here at Purdue.

Well that's it, hopefully someone else posts here before 4 months from now.