Term 2101 Schedule

8 November 2009: It's been way too long since I've written here. Nothing I say or do can make up for that, but I'm going to make some sort of effort anyway.

* * *

Here is my class schedule for the Fall 2009 term (Term 2101):

Class Title and Credit Value
ChE 0500	Systems Engineering 1: Dynamics and Modeling	5 cr.
ChE 0501	Systems Engineering 1 Lab	1 cr.
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.
ENGLIT 0325	Short Story in Context	3 cr.
ENGR 1700	Intro to Nuclear Engineering	3 cr.
ENGR 1702	Nuclear Plant Technology	3 cr.
MUSIC 0222	History of Western Music to 1750	3 cr.
		18 cr.

It's kind of weird not having any classes in the mornings, and yes, Wednesdays will suck, just as I had predicted. Classes start 31 August and end 11 December; finals are 14-19 December.

Term 2094 Schedule

Another year, another semester.

I didn't really blog about finals last semester because (1) it wasn't all that exciting, and (2) it was super-duper busy. Right back from Thanksgiving Recess on Monday 1 December, we had a major presentation to present the next day (we finished it at 03:00). Then a music exam on 3 December and a Materials exam on 5 December, all before the real Finals Week was to begin.

Then it was BioChem and Transport on 9 and 10 December, respectively, before we could finally calm down. By drawing bunnies at other people's remaining exams.

Anyway, you're probably wondering how I did. Well, here you go:

ChE 0300	Transport Phenomena	6 cr.	B
ChE 0301	Transport Phenomena Laboratory	1 cr.	A
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.	S
ChE 1530	Biochemistry for Engineers	3 cr.	C+
ENGR 0022	Materials Structure and Properties	3 cr.	B+
MUSIC 0311	Introduction to World Music	3 cr.	A-
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	1 cr.	A+
MUSIC 0630	Marching Band	1 cr.	A

These grades represent a QPA of 3.208 on 18 credits, giving me an overall GPA of 3.460 on 88 credits. BioChem hurt the ChE scores a bit, but I still have 3.521 on 24 credits in my major.

And now, here we are at the close of a second day of another semester. This semester's classes are as follows:

Class Title and Credit Value
ASTRON 0113	Introduction to Astronomy	3 cr.
ChE 0400	Reactive Process Engineering	5 cr.
ChE 0401	Reactive Process Engineering Lab	1 cr.
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.
CHEM 0340	Organic Chemistry 2 Lab	1 cr.
CHEM 1480	Intermediate Physical Chemistry	3 cr.
ENGR 1701	Fundamentals of Nuclear Reactors	3 cr.
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	1 cr.
MUSIC 0631	Symphonic Band	1 cr.
		18 cr.

Classes begin 5 January 2009; final exams are 20-25 April 2009. No classes 19 January for Martin Luther King's Birthday Observance, or 8-15 March for Spring Recess.

I'm a little bit frustrated by the PChem recitation overlapping with Nuclear, because that's not how it's listed in the system, but that's how it is. Apparently some people had talked to the professor ahead of time since the original 17:00 start time conflicted with something. So the system was changed to read 17:30-17:50, but a 20-minute recitation isn't going to be useful, so we were informed that recitations will be 17:30-18:15.

Of course, I know for a fact that I'm not the only one for whom that poses a problem, so maybe if enough people band together, he might add an alternate time.

Other than that, everything's going well. Judging from "syllabus day," the ChE 0400 professor is definitely well-versed in effective pedagogical techniques, so she's definitely trying to help us learn. Let's just hope that that translates well into actual practice. ASTRON seems to strike the right combination of fun and challenge, at least judging from today's lecture and a quick skimming of the first homework set.

Exams look to be nicely spaced. Tentatively 4, 9, 18, 26 February; 18, 23 March; 8 April; and then finals. This is a feature not many of my other semesters have been able to boast. Of course, there'll be a couple reports and a presentation in there for ChE 0401 (same as always), but hopefully I'll be able to make the best of everything.

The homework is regular, too. Reactive Processes will be due Wednesdays, Astronomy on Thursdays, and, of course, the OChem labs will be due Fridays, since that's when I have it. This is also a relief. It will allow me to get into more of a routine, because I know from experience that when homework is due on seemingly random days that vary each week, I don't do well with its time-management.

Random tangent 1: I like this blogging with a goal in mind. Like blogging right before midnight, trying to get the post done on time. It keeps me on my toes.

Random tangent 2: I found a dime on the ground today, the first coinage picked up this year. Perhaps I should do a running count, akin to Laurel's coffee count?

Term 2091

Very quickly, and very briefly, before we get started, I need to stick to tradition and mention that I got a C in Organic Chemistry 2 over the summer, which puts me at a cumulative average of 3.525 on 70 credits; the old concern with the old OChem 1 grade being counted has been resolved.

This fall's classes are as follows:

Class Title and Credit Value
ChE 0300	Transport Phenomena	6 cr.
ChE 0301	Transport Phenomena Laboratory	1 cr.
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.
ChE 1530	Biochemistry for Engineers	3 cr.
ENGR 0022	Materials Structure and Properties	3 cr.
MUSIC 0311	Introduction to World Music	3 cr.
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	1 cr.
MUSIC 0630	Marching Band	1 cr.
		18 cr.

Classes begin 25 August 2008; final exams are 8-13 December 2008. No classes 1 September for Labor Day; no classes 13 October for Fall Break, Monday classes instead observed on 14 October; no classes 26-28 November for Thanksgiving Recess.

As you can see, I have nice big open afternoons. I'm not sure what to think of it yet, but I have the feeling it's a good thing, because I can do errands, do homework, do internship searches, or whatever else needs to be done during that time.

I'm still not used to the fact that my ChE courses are at 10:00 and not 08:00 yet, but it means that instead of my friends and I going out for bagels afterwards, we go out for lunch.  Which is a lot of fun.

The only thing I don't particularly like is the ChE 1530 (BioChem) lecture that spans Tuesday nights.  It causes me to miss the last half-hour of choir, miss all of band, and risk missing my meeting for ΜΚΥ in the event that band should let out earlier than normal, which I'm sure will happen on at least one Tuesday between now and November.

Fall break is a bit of a complicated thing, too.  Because we miss a Monday for Labor Day; and we miss a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for Thanksgiving Recess; it makes sense to miss a Tuesday for any Fall Break we might have.

But you can't just call off a random Tuesday, so we're going to call off Monday and then make up the Monday classes on Tuesday in lieu of the Tuesday classes, effectively canceling the Tuesday classes even though we have Monday off.  I am envisioning mass chaos on those days.

All in all, I think that this can and will be a good term.  I'm doing well on forming good habits, although it hasn't even been a week yet, so we'll see how everything holds up once it comes time for midterm exams.

Random tangent: Pitt's Bonfire & Pep Rally is tonight at 20:30; I will be playing there.  And apparently, my grandfather won tickets to tonight's Steelers preseason game and is taking my father.  So that's exciting.

Academic Update

Well, finals came and went, and contrary to popular rumor, I'm still alive. I know you're all disappointed. But not really.

Gosh, where has all this sarcasm come from lately?

Anywho, I went online on the evening of 30 April and found some nice little letters from my professors, some of which are adorned with mathematical symbols:

ChE 0200	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics	6 cr.	A+
ChE 0201	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Lab	1 cr.	A-
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.	S
CHEM 0310	Organic Chemistry 1	3 cr.	B+
ENGCMP 0400	Written Professional Communication	3 cr.	A-
ENGR 0020	Probability and Statistics for Engineers 1	3 cr.	A
MUSIC 0631	Concert Band	1 cr.	A

These grades represent a QPA of 3.819 on 18 credits, and that makes me very happy. According to official University policy, this gives me a cumulative average of 3.593 on 67 credits; however, the online system is still counting the old OChem 1 grade in its calculation and says my average is 3.482 on 70 credits. This is wrong, and I'm going to address it quickly to make sure that the right people are aware of this disparity, especially because (as of now) it would mean the difference between graduating Cum Laude and Magna Cum Laude. I mean, "magna" is an important word!

Of course, there is a slight downside to this news, and that is that my lovely 4.000 in ChE classes is no more. It's all because of that pesky little A- in the ChE 0201 lab. It was mostly group work, and I missed the A by six points, and although I'm sure those six points were within my grasp, I can't help but think that one of our more difficult group members also lost us those six points at some point. Nevertheless, I'm not here to make excuses, and besides, my QPA in my major is now 3.982 on 14 credits. Which is still pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

Anyhow, many of you have probably already heard that I'm taking Organic Chemistry 2 as a six-week summer course. It's already started, and it's going well. So here's the obligatory information, which is quite streamlined since it's only one class:

Class Title and Credit Value
CHEM 0320	Organic Chemistry 2	3 cr.	(6Wk1)

Classes begin 12 May 2008 for the Six-Week 1 term, and end on 20 June 2008. No classes 26 May for Memorial Day.

My professor is Dr. George Bandik, who I had for OChem 1 (the first time) in the fall. One might think that's a bad thing, but he's a really good professor who genuinely cares about his students' progress, and my choices were either to take his six-week course, take someone else's four-week course, or possibly be a year behind in chemistry. So I think I made the right choice.

Fortunately, I'm understanding the material so far. I just have to spend a lot of time poring over it. I've heard from my friends that OChem 2 is easier, especially once one has the OChem 1 foundation. Although that's not enough to lull me into a false sense of security, it's still nice to know.

I won't bore you with any more details, though. Just know that this is what I'm doing for a while.

Random tangent: The maintenance crew was testing the fire and smoke alarms in my building today, and they got to my floor just as I was coming back from class. Let's just say that knowing there's a reason such alarms are so piercingly annoying doesn't make them any less so. It sort of acted to get people out of their rooms, though, which was nice. I talked to a few guys on my floor.

Term 2084 Finals

Okay, let's get this over with.

I know, it's been eons since I've blogged, and I have a ton to write about (not to mention the pictures to post!), but the fact of the matter is that it's a busy time of year here in Collegeland... namely, Finals Week. Here's what's on tap:


As you can clearly see, the reason this post is going to be so gosh-darn short is because I'm frantically trying to get together everything for my ENGCMP 0400 Portfolio, which is due at 12:00 EDT tomorrow.

After that, I have a few phone calls to make and errands to run before the fun studying starts Tuesday night, specifically for ChE 0200 (Thermodynamics). The week is rounded out with CHEM 0310 (Organic Chemistry) and it spills over into Saturday (ugh!) with ENGR 0020 (Statistics).

I don't know what to think about this, aside from the fact that such a back-ended schedule is less than desirable. Thermodynamics is generally regarded as the hardest of these courses by my peers, but I actually haven't been having too much trouble with the style of exams in that course. Statistics has been relatively straightforward... and to top it all off, it's a non-comprehensive exam. Again, the whole course has basically focused on applying principles that I've been using, in some form, since I was ten. Not that I was taught how to use them then... I was just that much of a nerd. See? It can pay off!

So, although I will of course be studying for both of those exams, I'm not very concerned about their outcome.

Organic Chemistry sticks out like a sore thumb. It's not quite the bane of my academic career, but admittedly, it feels like it sometimes. The curriculum is supposed to go through Chapter 13, so what do we do? After sloughing through Chapters 1-8, we covered Chapter 9 in two lectures, ahead of Exam 3 on 11 April. There were two questions on epoxide ring opening on that exam, material that was covered only in the last five minutes of the lecture immediately prior. I'm pretty sure I figured out what to do, but I genuinely feel bad for those who are taking this class the first time around. While that wasn't fair to anybody, it was much less fair to them.

Naturally, the topics of Chapters 10-13 were breezed by in the ensuing week, and we didn't get Exam 3 back in that time, so we don't know what we missed, and thus don't know what to focus more heavily on in studying for the Final. Normally, exam turnback has been within two lectures' time, with a period afterwards to challenge grading errors. This time, though, the idea is that our exams will be checked over so thoroughly that regrades will not be necessary. It's great in theory, but when the mantra all along has been "make sure the students know where they're not understanding things," even at the expense of keeping pace with the curriculum, it comes as a shock to have one-third of the material dumped on the students in the last week while they're kept in the dark about what they missed on the material before that.

I apologize for being so cynical, but on the academic front, my biggest peeve lately is probably how that class has been run.

Anywho, with a portfolio deadline closing in on 12 hours away, I've got lots more writing to do... just not here.

Random tangent: It is really, really hot in my room. Like 77° hot. I might trek to the lobby, or even Hillman Library tonight if this keeps up, because for me, warmth equals sleep, which I can't necessarily afford exactly now. (Don't worry; I'll get some sleep. Just not much.)

Term 2084 Schedule, Revised

I was finally able to register this afternoon. Based on the numbers, they were unable to justify adding more space to the section I needed, so I had to get the Chemistry Advisor's signature to enter a closed lecture and recitation.

I was the third one that he was able to get into this class. Since he is taking great care to not "over-enroll" any one of the four recitation sections, he must evenly distribute the students amongst them. By the time I got there, there was one extra person enrolled in both the Monday 14:00 and Monday 18:00 sessions. Since Thursday 09:00 wouldn't fit in my schedule, I took Wednesday 14:00. The next person would either have to take Thursday 09:00, wait for someone else to take it (opening up a new round), or not get in.

The TA for the Wednesday 14:00 session is the same one who teaches the Monday 14:00 session (which I attended this week), and he also happened to be my OChem Lab instructor (CHEM 0330) in the fall.

So here is my revised schedule:

Academics

As you may know, today was the first day back to classes here at Pitt. And that usually brings some sort of schedule with it on this blog. But you may also know that I usually talk about how my semester went once it's over, in terms of meeting expectations as well as grades.

Well, I put one off, and now it's time to do the other... and they're really a lot related, more so this time around then ever. Anyway, here's last fall's roundup:

Finals week started with OChem, and I'd made it no secret that I wasn't grasping the concepts as well as I'd have liked. On the other hand, I did feel confident that I had done better on my final than on some of the other recent exams. I got my exam grade back (a number) that Friday afternoon, but forgot that I had signed the exam allowing my professor to post my grade by ID number later that day. So he didn't have the exam or the signature, and my grade wasn't posted and I had to wait. And that was hard.

The Diff. Eq. final was a bit of a non-event. It was a departmental final, written by my professor and one other guy, so it was fairly predictable. The last of the ten problems was on material squeezed into the last week, though, and I put the wrong types of information on my "cheat sheet" that we were allowed to use. So, I had practically nothing for that one. But I did well on all of the others, and even caught myself in the process of making a reading mistake similar to one I'd made on an earlier exam.

The ChE 0100 exam was easy, but long. Not to mention it was open-book, so even if you got stuck, you were there for three whole hours. Really, that class was a breeze, but it's those basic concepts of various chemical properties, expanded to a more general sense, that will really lay the foundation for the future ChE courses. I'm already seeing that in ChE 0200. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, I'd been debating with myself over how to approach this next part: the summary. You see, as it turns out, though I passed OChem 1, my grade did not end up being satisfactory by my standards, especially considering that I'm going to have to take OChem 2. So, I'm retaking OChem 1 (and again, I'm jumping ahead), as there are a lot of important concepts that I must look over again.

So it is with some trepidation that I summarize my grades, although really, in the end, I decided that having a class like this is fairly normal, and that it really won't matter once my new grade replaces the old one. So, if I can quit talking about this term, here's the breakdown of last term:

ChE 0100	Foundations of Chemical Engineering	6 cr.	A
ChE 0101	Foundations of Chemical Engineering Lab	1 cr.	A
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.	S
CHEM 0310	Organic Chemistry 1	3 cr.	D
CHEM 0330	Organic Chemistry Lab 1	1 cr.	C+
MATH 0290	Differential Equations	3 cr.	B-
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	1 cr.	A
MUSIC 0630	Marching Band	1 cr.	A

As it stands, these grades represent a QPA of 3.094 on 16 credits, giving me a cumulative average of 3.365 on 52 credits. Obviously, I'm disappointed with the drop caused by OChem, but I'm glad it was only 0.12. And of course, the retake will replace the old grade in the QPA calculation, so barring a complete meltdown, it'll really be higher than that.

On the plus side of things, you can see that I actually have grades for my major now, and that it stands at a perfect 4.000 on 7 credits. Oh, how I'd love to keep that...

Now that I'm done with that, I'd ordinarily start talking about break thusfar; obviously, it's not only done, but it's already been blogged about. So now, it's onto the present. Here's my schedule for Term 2084:

Class Titles and Credit Values
ChE 0200	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics	6 cr.
ChE 0201	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Lab	1 cr.
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.
CHEM 0310	Organic Chemistry 1	3 cr.
ENGCMP 0400	Written Professional Communication	3 cr.
ENGR 0020	Probability and Statistics for Engineers 1	4 cr.
MUSIC 0631	Concert Band	1 cr.
		18 cr.

Classes begin 7 January 2008; final exams are 21-26 April 2008. No classes 21 January for Martin Luther King's Birthday Observance, or 9-16 March for Spring Recess.

The first and most important thing to notice is that the OChem 1 classes are in a different color. It's not actually that color on my calendar, but I did that while taking the screenshot to illustrate that I'm not technically registered for it... yet.

You see, there are two sections of OChem 1 offered this term: the one shown above, and one that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 09:30. Obviously, that one won't work with my ChE 0200/0201 complex that clogs up the top of my schedule and allows me to progress through my major. So it's pretty important that I get into the 10:00 sessions.

Only problem: it's filled to capacity... and as of this morning, there were 48 seats open in the other section.

If the students were distributed more evenly, even if one was closed, I could probably get in easily, just with a few extra forms. But the "capacity size" of each section is linked to its corresponding recitation sections (mine is shown Monday at 14:00). Each of the two lectures as four corresponding recitations, or review sessions, that hold 30 students each. Hence, capacity for the lectures has a fixed cap at 120. The Chemistry Department could add more recitation sections to accommodate a popular course, but they can't do that until the other one gets closer to filling up.

So after running around from building to building, department to department, I found out that I'm not the only one in the same boat, where ChE 0200 precludes taking the more open section. And since I happen to already have an established rapport with the Chemistry Department's Undergraduate Advisor (my original OChem prof, as well as through ACS-SA), he greeted me with open arms (literally), and said that we'd have to wait to see some movement from one section to the other. But he also assured me that if the add/drop deadline of 18 January was to sneak up and no such movement occurred, he would gladly sign the necessary papers and help me jump through the proper hoops to get registered in time.

In the meantime, I'm still technically registered for OChem 2, and I'm going to attend the lectures until things are finalized, and maybe even occasionally throughout the term as my duties will allow, just so that I can get used to seeing that type of material before I'll need it. And after one day of add/drop, there are only 16 seats left in that other OChem 1 section. So things are looking good.

ChE 0200 today was uneventful. Being a two-hour class, we actually started on material — review material — but that was to be expected. I've heard that the class is quite challenging, but very rewarding, and is also curved to account for the challenge. It's thermodynamics, so that should be very interesting.

CHEM 0310 was... CHEM 0310. My professor is a very nice lady, although it's her first time teaching OChem 1. She did take about 40 of the 50 minutes going over the one-page syllabus, though, because she kept thinking of things she forgot or "words of wisdom" and advice for the course. She also helped me in my quest for registration, though there really wasn't anything she could do.

ENGR 0020 is fun. It's common knowledge that statistics can be manipulated to "demonstrate" nearly anything. So as an exercise, each day this class will start with a brief discussion about a "statistical lie," a scenario in which the truth is hidden by the way the numbers are presented. Some important parts of being a free-thinking and honest engineer are to detect such tactics when employed against you as well as to prevent accidentally doing it yourself.

And that's all I have for now. I'll talk about how weird ChE 0201 works this semester in a later post... even though it's listed as Thursday above, I have it tomorrow instead of the ChE 0200 recitation. Very confusing. At least there's no OChem lab.

That and English Comp. tomorrow, as well as sitting in on an OChem 2 lecture. Band and choir start up Thursday. And I still haven't unpacked since I've been running around all day.

Random tangent: How about that nice weather we've been having? I'll take 63°. But warn me next time; I went out in the morning with a coat because it was cold, and then I had to run around all day with it.

Term 2081 Finals

Not much to explain; it's Finals Week. What else is there to say? Anyway, here's my schedule:


Aw. They're in descending order of difficulty. How quaint. Obviously, any prayers between, oh, 14:00 and 15:50 EST on Tuesday are appreciated... because no matter how much studying I have done, and no matter how much studying I continue to do between now and then, I will not reach a point where I will be able to call myself "prepared" for the CHEM exam. Sure, I will have prepared, but to "be prepared" implies completion of the preparation, which won't even come close to fruition. Come test time, I'll just go in and write what I know; that's all I can do. And that's all I have to say about that.

The MATH exam I'm not too worried about, as I've done fairly well on the midterms and have gotten pretty good at fitting the necessary equations and transformations on my one-page "cheat sheet." I'll be making that Tuesday night at around 18:00 after I've had a couple of hours to wallow in self-pity. And I hope I'm kidding there, but the way things have been going in CHEM, you never know...

As for ChE... please. In a matter of 60 seconds, my classmates got my professor from "bring your Felder textbook (for the data tables), a calculator, and a ruler" to "bring your Felder and Wankat's books, a calculator, a ruler, and a one-page cheat sheet." I've been getting high-90s on the exams and 100s on the quizzes as it is.

Of course, I won't blow off studying... what else do I have to do all week? But if, after two or three hours of studying, my mind has gone numb because of the seemingly simple and repetitive concepts, then I won't feel bad calling it quits. My only concern is that this exam is three hours long, as it's a six-credit class... our midterms were two hours and our quizzes were one. Yikes!

I'm going to stay in Pittsburgh all day Friday to tie up loose ends, and begin my journey home shortly after the men's basketball game against Oklahoma State on Saturday 15 December. I'll be home for three full weeks before classes resume on Monday 7 January 2008.

Random tangent: I'm usually adamantly against New Year's Resolutions, because January is such a horrible time of year to start anything. I much prefer March, June, and October for resolving to do things, for reasons to long to fit in this already-long tangent. But I've got a January resolution this year already, although I'll probably start it Friday after my finals. It was more or less prompted by the most recent episode of my all-too-frequent emotional breakdown series. No need to worry; good comes out of all of my breakdowns, you see, in case I haven't made that obvious by mentioning the resolution in the first place.

Term 2081 Schedule

Time to start year two! And so, as usual, here is my schedule for the fall term:

Class Titles and Credit Values
ChE 0100	Foundations of Chemical Engineering	6 cr.
ChE 0101	Foundations of Chemical Engineering Lab	1 cr.
ChE 1085	Departmental Seminar	0 cr.
CHEM 0310	Organic Chemistry 1	3 cr.
CHEM 0330	Organic Chemistry Lab 1	1 cr.
MATH 0290	Differential Equations	3 cr.
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	1 cr.
MUSIC 0630	Marching Band	1 cr.
		16 cr.

Classes begin 27 August 2007; final exams are 10-15 December 2007. No classes 03 September for Labor Day, or 21-25 November for Thanksgiving Recess.

The first thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that my Organic Chemistry (OChem) lab cuts into choir. Oh, well; that's life. I already talked to the choir director and he (very cautiously) said that I'm a fast enough learner that he can spare me for one hour a week. And that leads right into marching band, too.

Last year, the procedure was to leave choir around 17:35 (15 minutes early) to be able to be on the practice field for band by 18:15 (15 minutes late). Since I'll be an hour late to choir on Tuesdays, that doesn't work. So I'll end up getting to band around 18:35 or so on Tuesdays, which isn't great, but at least I can afford it. And it's a doubly good thing that choir doesn't start until Thursday 30 August, so I won't have to use this technique until 04 September.

Moving on to my actual classes. It seems I get off-track like this every time I go over a schedule...

Oh, 08:00 classes. I think Foundations (ChE 0100) will be okay, though; since I managed to get up today and get to the room in under seven minutes, something I could never have done living on upper campus. The elevators in Benedum are, surprisingly enough, not so busy at 07:55 as they are at, say, 09:55 or 10:55.

My professor is fluent in English, which is good, and he has a bit of a sense of humor. After going over some basic examples in class today, he said, "we could go on all day listing more examples, but instead we'll go on all semester... just in more detail." So for an 08:00 class, at least the guy's trying to make it fun. Plus, since it's two hours long, we got a break in the middle. I don't know if that will become standard, but it was nice nonetheless.

I was able to grab a bagel between Foundations and OChem (CHEM 0310). Not that that matters, because I should have eaten breakfast before my first class. Stupid alarm clocks. Anyway, this just shows that I'm slowly adapting to the new meal plan; it's really weird. But that shall be another post.

The OChem professor, George, likes to be referred to by his first name because "that's the name [his] parents gave him." So there you go, my dear friends. With very little fluff, we just jumped right into business, and started the usual "review" of past material which begins a new term. He did, however, mention that he is the slowest in the department when it comes to teaching organic chemistry, and so toward the end of the term, he'll ask us to come in on some Sunday afternoons. At least he admits it upfront, you know?

George had a good analogy up his sleeve for chemical bonding, too. He said that he was a helium atom, and he pointed out another student (again, atomic helium). He waved his right arm around, called it his electron, and had the student do the same. He mentioned that because both arms were extended outwards, there was a mutual attraction between them, so they got closer and closer until they formed a bond (a handshake). But, he added, if he were to get too close to the other atom, the internuclear forces would cause it (or the other student) to become repulsed!

So if I've got to get up for three hours of classes from 08:00 to 11:00 thrice a week, at least these people have senses of humor, right?

My Diff. Eq. (MATH 0290) professor took a similar approach to jumping right in. He's very soft spoken (i.e., hard to hear), and he has a thicker accent, although it is, for the most part, decipherable. He did, however, lose just about everybody in the class in the first step of the second example, where he did the following in one step:


I thought that's what we were taking that class to learn. I'm going to thoroughly read the assigned section to see if that's in there... and if not, I will definitely consider looking at other options as far as Diff. Eq. professors go.

That's about all; this is long enough as it is. Besides, I've got to be up for class at 08:00 again! All in all, it was a good day.

Random tangent: The left window in my room is stuck. Stuck slightly open. Facing Fifth Avenue. Ugh.

Term 2074 Finals and More

My last finals week post was quite strictly about finals, but I guess the weeks leading up to finals weren't all that bad in comparison to what I dealt with this time around. So I didn't have that much to write about then, but I do now. But first, the necessary schedule and disclaimer: It's time for me to go back into my little shell... again. And this is why:

Nothing on Monday, which is nice compared with the killer ones I've had all semester. I'm not too thrilled, however, about the MATH/CHEM combo Wednesday night and early Thursday (yes, noon is early). PHYS on Tuesday should by far be the easiest. Also, you'll notice the little thing in the corner under Friday; that's a 7-10 page paper for PS that's due at 12:00. It's just that since it's not an exam, it doesn't have a definite time span, you know? The prompt:

Some studies of presidential influence with Congress... claim that presidential success or failure depends on personal ability or lack thereof. Other examinations... emphasize the role of factors in the political and institutional environment, factors over which the president has little or no control. Using your thorough command of the course materials, indicate your position on this controversy....

I'm pretty sure my position is going to end up being that both are important, although maybe not equally so. We have a list of 11 different realms of political "interaction" to consider while writing the paper, and we're supposed to integrate them to come up with our response. I don't think it should be all that bad; I just have to take extra special care to set aside time amidst all the studying for CHEM, which is really having me a bit worried.

So after 12:00 on Friday 27 April, I'll be done. But beyond that, I have to stick around in Pittsburgh to play for commencement on Sunday 29 April. Then the morning of Monday 30 April, the symphonic band will be leaving for a short two-gig tour in New Jersey. I'll return to Pittsburgh the afternoon of Wednesday 02 May, and depending on exactly when we get back, I'll be at home either later that day or the next.

Now I told you in my last post that I had the feeling I'd forgotten something important. Well guess what? I did. A few of you already know this, but our band director, Jack Anderson, was honored by the National Council of ΚΚΨ at the concert last weekend with the Distinguished Service to Music Medal in the Marching Band category, a very high honor indeed. And he totally deserves it.

My Aunt Barb was also recognized last weekend by the ΚΔ sorority for which she's been a long-time advisor. This one I sort of knew about, and I'm sure she's very deserving of this honor as well, though I don't have a personal basis on which to judge her positive influence on sorority life. Sorry, Barb.

And then on top of all these people being honored, I found an article today for all of my relatives who are Pitt band alumni about the owners of Camp Kon-O-Kwee. So there.

Just so you guys know, I don't have any definite summer plans. I hope to find some sort of a reasonable job within a reasonable distance of home that pays reasonably well. On the side, I'll be continuing work on redoing my high school band's website, as practices for their 2007 season have already started! Wow. Since I won't be busy with schoolwork, I'll have a bit more energy to devote to insane coding... or at least, that's the idea.

A couple weeks ago, I fixed a major problem I'd had with the sidebar feature of the new site for over two months. I just had a "Eureka!" moment, flipped two lines of code, and voilà!, it was working. It turns out that databases have to be opened before you can reference their contents. Corey will stay in Pittsburgh for the summer, so he'll have to keep me straight via email and instant messenger.

The only other thing I can think of is that I'm applying to be a counselor at Music Camp, which would keep me busy from 07-14 July. But that's about it.

So now I think I've covered everything. If not, it'll have to wait until Saturday, or perhaps a quick blurb in the comments section. Until then, have a great week everyone!

Random tangent: The weather this weekend has been phenomenal. Right now, it's warmer outside than it is in my room, and that hasn't happened it quite a while. Hopefully I get a chance to enjoy it some more today!

Term 2074 Schedule

Ah, the first day of classes! And you know what that means: Schedule Posting Time! You've probably grown used to it by now. Anyway, here it is:

Class Titles and Credit Values
CHEM 0770	Honors General Chemistry for Engineers 2	4 cr.
ENGR 0082	Freshman Engineering Seminar 2	0 cr.
ENGR 0715	Engineering Applications for Society	3 cr.
MATH 0240	Analytic Geometry & Calculus 3	4 cr.
PHYS 0175	Basic Physics for Science & Engineering 2	3 cr.
PS 0200	American Political Process	3 cr.
		18 cr.
Additional Participation
MUSIC 0612	Heinz Chapel Choir	(1 cr.)
MUSIC 0631	Concert Band	(1 cr.)

Classes begin 03 January 2007; final exams are 23-28 April 2007. No classes 15 January for Martin Luther King's Birthday Observance, or 04-11 March for Spring Recess.

And yes, that's right, I made the concert band! For my friends and family who would like to come out to a concert, I'll find out when those dates are and will post them here. As you can see, I'm also still in the Heinz Chapel Choir like last term. You may have noticed, though, that I am registered for neither ensemble. My scholarship covers 18 credits; any more than that, and I'd have to pay. And I'm sorry, but it's not worth $473/credit ($946 in this case, since it's two) just for some easy A's to show up on my transcript when I can have all the fun for free!

As for my actual academic classes, you'll see CHEM 0770 in the exact same spot as CHEM 0760 was last term. Same guy, same book, same time, same place. To steal a slogan from Staples, "That was easy." Not so easy is the four-hour CHEM lab on Monday afternoon. It was either that or Friday, and why would I put myself through such misery on a Friday? Actually, the professor just said today that the Friday lab session was cancelled due to low enrollment. So I made the right choice.

By the way, did you notice how awesome my Fridays will be? Of course, I'll be doing errands and laundry most of those Friday afternoons, but going into Spring Recess, for example, I could easily be back home in time for dinner.

PS 0200 looks like it'll be fun. And I thought there was a chance Emily had been slightly exaggerating the guy's coughing habits. Nope. I'll get used to it, though; I'll just think of it as an accent that's really easy to decipher.

As you can see, I had a PHYS 0175 recitation today before having had a single lecture. We did a little activity that tested our knowledge from PHYS 0174 for a participation grade. The TA seems nice and is relatively easy to understand, which in the Physics Department is quite an achievement. My professor for lectures subbed for my PHYS 0174 professor once, and she is quite knowledgeable. Chattering students in the lecture hall that day were quickly told to be quiet and were even reminded that she had been teaching here for many years and was, in fact, competent enough to present the material. Anyway, the course is Electricity and Magnetism, so we'll see how that goes.

If you didn't notice, MATH 0240 is a night class. I don't think the time of day will be as much of an issue as the frequency of the meetings. Last term, MATH 0235 met in some form or another five days a week (lecture Mon., Wed., Fri.; computing Tues.; recitation Thurs.). But all this Calculus 3 material will be dumped into my head on only two nights a week. Not exactly the best way to learn calculus, according to both my MATH 0235 professor and my prior experience with calculus in high school.

I obviously can't say anything about ENGR 0715 yet, and ENGR 0082 isn't worth mentioning since it's a seminar that only lasts until we declare our majors on 28 February. That's scary. I've been telling everybody who has asked that it would be in March, which felt a little further away. But even being the last day of February makes it seem so much closer. I will, of course, post any important news as it arises, and as my schedule permits.

And that's a look at what I've got ahead of me. I set the bar with last term, and my goal is to aim higher. It doesn't matter how much higher, nor does it matter if I even reach the goal. The point is, I aim higher. And if I do that, I will be satisfied.

Random tangent: Last I checked, Craig still hadn't picked up his "cookery book" from the gâteau escapade, which I will write about on this blog sometime soon, I hope. The problem is, I'm down here in Pittsburgh, along with the last piece of the gâteau, which I have decided will be my birthday cake. My guess is a couple phone calls on my part combined with a little proactivity on Craig's part (i.e., not sleeping in until 16:00) will do the trick.

Term 2071 Finals

I will now be going back into my little shell for a week or so. Finals start Monday, which means I won't be blogging much until I get through them. I might get to write a little post on snow if I can find the time, but otherwise it won't be until Wednesday night or Thursday; PHYS won't take that long to study for. Then again, I wouldn't count on it. My finals week schedule is shown below.


I'll be returning home to Girard almost immediately after my last final on Friday 15 December. Have a great week everyone!

Random tangent: For anyone who wants to hear Friday night's Heinz Chapel Choir concert, tune in to the live broadcast on Pittsburgh's WQED-FM 89.3, or listen online, beginning at 20:00 ET. It's going to be great!

Term 2071 Schedule

I know that everyone is dying to hear about band camp and the orientation period, but first it's time to present my schedule, as I've done in past semesters, so here it is:

Class Titles and Credit Values

CHEM 0760	Honors General Chemistry for Engineers 1	4
ENGR 0081	Freshman Engineering Seminar 1	0
ENGR 0711	Honors Engineering Analysis & Computing	3
MATH 0235	Honors 1-Variable Calculus	4
MUSIC 0630	Marching Band	1
PHYS 0174	Basic Physics for Science & Engineering 1	3
PSY 0010	Introduction to Psychology	3
		18

Monday
09:00-09:50 CHEM 0760 lecture
10:00-10:50 MATH 0235 lecture
13:00-13:50 PSY 0010 lecture
15:00-15:50 PHYS 0174 lecture
16:00-17:50 ENGR 0711 lecture
18:00-20:00 MUSIC 0630

Tuesday
10:00-10:50 MATH 0235 recitation (computing)
18:00-20:00 MUSIC 0630

Wednesday
09:00-09:50 CHEM 0760 lecture
10:00-10:50 MATH 0235 lecture
13:00-13:50 PSY 0010 lecture
14:00-14:50 PHYS 0174 recitation (computing)
15:00-15:50 PHYS 0174 lecture
16:00-17:50 ENGR 0711 lecture

Thursday
09:00-09:50 CHEM 0760 recitation
10:00-10:50 MATH 0235 recitation
13:00-13:50 ENGR 0081 lecture
15:00-15:50 ENGR 0081 recitation
18:00-20:00 MUSIC 0630

Friday
09:00-09:50 CHEM 0760 lecture
10:00-10:50 MATH 0235 lecture
13:00-13:50 PSY 0010 lecture
14:00-14:50 PHYS 0174 recitation
15:00-15:50 PHYS 0174 lecture
18:00-20:00 MUSIC 0630

Classes begin 28 August 2006; final exams are 11-16 December 2006.

No classes 04 September for Labor Day, or 22-26 November for Thanksgiving Recess.

My Schedule

Today is the first day of the spring semester, my last as a high school student (sob). In my opinion, this semester's schedule is more demanding than in the fall, but we'll see. It should be fun. This is what I have for the second semester:

Monday - Friday
07:48-07:53 Homeroom
07:57-09:17 (1) Independent Study Physics II
09:21-10:41 (2) Independent Study AP Calculus BC
10:45-11:13 Tutorial Period
11:17-11:57 (3A) Concert Band
11:59-12:29 (3B) Lunch
12:31-13:11 (3C) Concert Choir
13:15-14:35 (4) AP Government & Politics: United States

Classes run through 08 June. The third quarter ends on 03 April.

Probably the most difficult part of this schedule for me will be the back-to-back independent studies in the morning. My schedule was such a mess back in August that this was the only way we could get it to work. For Physics II, the actual class meets during module 3, so on days when they do group labs, I'll have to skip out of band and choir to do them (don't worry, I've already run this by the directors). As for AP Calculus BC, the highest math class they offer at my school is really AP Calculus AB, which I took last year. So my independent study is during module 2, which is when the AB class meets anyways. It's going to be an interesting semester.

In the fall, I mentioned having 1.85 new teachers (see the post for an explanation if you really want one). Well, this semester I have none. I had the Physics II and AP Calculus BC teachers last spring for Physics I and AP Calculus AB, respectively (although technically since Physics II has a student teacher, you could consider her new). The band and choir are still under the same directors as before. And strangely enough, AP Government is going to be taught by my seventh grade World Cultures teacher! My brother had him last year, and it doesn't seem like he's changed much, but we'll see this afternoon.

Meanwhile, I'm gearing up for District Chorus next week. I'll have more posts later.

My Schedule

Well, two days of school are in the books. I don’t have a horribly difficult schedule, in my opinion, but some of the classes are challenging. This is what I have for the first semester:

07:48-07:53 Homeroom
07:57-09:17 (1) AP English Literature & Composition
09:21-10:41 (2) Wellness & Nutrition
10:45-11:13 Tutorial Period
11:17-11:57 (3A) Concert Band
11:59-12:29 (3B) Lunch
12:31-13:11 (3C) Concert Choir
13:15-14:35 (4) AP Chemistry

There are pros and cons to the four-by-four block scheduling we use. Pro: One only has four (in some cases, five) classes to worry about each day. Con: There are only 90 days (instead of 180) to cover a whole year’s worth of material.

Example: Tuesday night for AP Chemistry (first day), I had to read Chapters 1 and 2 of a brand new AP-level book. Granted, all but two of the 68 pages were totally review from Chem I, but it was still a lot of reading. Today we reinforced the unfamiliar part, and did some review sheets. The test is tomorrow.

Please keep in mind that this is an extreme example and represents only one day in an entire semester. Some (hopefully most) days will be lighter than this, at least from Chemistry. Some will probably be heavier. Oh, well. That’s life.

In other news, I have 1.85 new teachers this semester. I had my AP English Lit teacher for Honors English 11 last year, but he’s got a student teacher now (.25). My Wellness & Nutrition teacher is completely new to me (1) and the Choir Director is a newbie (.5, because it’s half a block). Also, the Band Director (Mr. Dearbeck, see “Forty-four Chairs”) is a first-year teacher, but I’ve known him personally for years (.1). Total: 1.85.

Meanwhile, marching band is going well. I’ll have more posts later.