Well, so much for my expectations of grad school. As I remember, I was told by a bunch of graduates (don't remember who or how many) that after braving 4 years of Mac grad school would be a breeze...yeah right. Lately I have so much homework that 9AM to 9PM days at the chem department are becoming the norm. Classes are tough (but interesting thank goodness) and on top of that there's work which I actually like a bunch but takes a lot of time to prepare for. It's like one my toughest semesters at Mac all over again - with the exception, of course, that downtown Minneapolis is a 10 min bus ride away :)
So yeah, things have been pretty interesting lately. I rushed a frat and met a bunch of cool people. I actually managed to get in as well! - although I'm not so sure as to what to do about it now. I'm busy enough as it is at the moment, but I'm sure it'd be a lot of fun. Whatever happens happens.
I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. We're throwing our first official house party, and it seems that our keg invitation managed to convince a lot of people to commit. It's gonna be one heck of a party, if we actually succeed in cleaning up and preparing the house by friday evening.
So do I miss the Mac days? Maybe a little. Do I miss the friendships? Yes, many of them. Would I go back? Probably not. I'm thoroughly enjoying grad school and there's just so much to do all the time that my head's spinning.
Uhhh....so where's my research advisor?
(I'm blaming my month-long disappearance to my lack of internet access during my three movings, so there).
So we're already into the second week of grad school! I must say that I like it a lot so far - my new place is pretty sweet, classes seem relatively interesting, met a ton of people, and still manage to go out to the bars 4 days a week or so. The U is an overall great place and I really like the independence and flexibility of my schedule.
Today was also the very first time that I taught an organic chemistry lab all by myself! It was a bit hectic and confusing at the beginning, but things went alright and I actually enjoyed teaching quite a lot. Let's just hope that it keeps going like this and that none of my kids end up burned with acid or hurt from an explosion or something.
Got a couple of interesting things coming up in the horizon. We're certainly gonna throw a house-warming party sometime soon. Our place is quite spacious so it'd be tons of fun. Then Hashish might come for a quick visit in early October, and I might go to Florida on Thanksgivings to visit some relatives I haven't seen in like over 6 years. Let's see how things turn out.
Right now my only big concern is finding a good research advisor...and finishing up the howework for tomorrow. This semester is shaping up to be quite a good one!