In which I look back on the first half of the semester

On my first day of classes this fall I almost bumped into a girl who was coming out of the science building. Her long hair was perfectly crimped every half inch, she was wearing makeup, all of her Abercrombie & Fitch clothes were just so, etc. She wasn’t the only one either. I had to laugh thinking, “Oh, you poor freshmen. In a month, maybe two, you will have your hair in ponytails, be wearing sweats, and have started putting on your ‘freshmen fifteen’.” Looking around today, it’s started. Midterms are over and I think the reality of not being in high school anymore is starting to sink in. Is it bad that I take a certain joy in watching this happen?

The prevalence of iPods is almost creepy. Everywhere I look there’s someone reaching into their coat pocket to adjust something and they have white headphones in their ears. It’s almost like a cult. I am a diehard Apple fan, of course, but I am used to rooting for them as an underdog.

My guilty pleasure has been to hang out in the library for no particular reason. It’s been rearranged a little but it’s still as relaxing as I remember.

I am pretty sure I am pulling an A in my computer architecture and networking course. (I find out for sure on Monday. It’s either and A or a high B.) We have finished the hardware part and are moving to operating systems and networking. It gets more tedious as it moves closer to my stronger suits, but I am still going to class every day. It feels good to know that I can actually force my way through a class like this.

I just got my midterm results back from my Visual Basic course. Much to my surprise I am pulling an A+ in that class. A quick glance at my degree progress report shows that’s an extremely rare event. As long as I don’t completely screw up any assignments and I get an 85 or better on the final, I should get the A.

The winter and spring timetable is out. It looks like I will be taking Advanced Business Writing over winterim. 3 1/2 hours of class a day, five days a week plus whatever writing assignments we get. Intense, but there are only 12 days of class. I thrive on short-term, high-pressure projects and I like both of the instructors that are offering it, so I should be fine.

Spring semester doesn’t look bad. There are no schedule conflicts between the classes that I need (which was my main worry). The earliest I would have to be in class is 9 am (if I get the class and instructor that I think I’d prefer). The “final” CIS course is being taught by a professor that I’ve never really heard anything about. My other CIS course should be a cinch and I can handle the math course, but the “final” CIS course is a big question mark for me. Well, it’s not like I have a choice about it. It’s either take it or give up. So I am starting the wheels in motion for the final semesters of my college career. (Well, unless I go for that masters degree…)