Independence Day

Nevermind that it's 15F outside, today, we celebrate our Independence Day! Done with Fall Semester 2009, despite yesterday's Finance II final being way tougher than expected. On to a little DC, NYE, and finally Vietnam!

Back to school remeberances

As I walked to the corner store to get some Half and Half for my coffee this morning, I passed by our neighborhood elementary school which was the scene of once an year fanfare: Day 1 of school.

Lots of nervous kids, beaming parents, and my personal favorite, the pint-size possible kindergartners hanging on to mom's leg, not willing to go quietly into this strange abyss.

Although my first day of school (which may be the last one forever) is tomorrow, I couldn't help but relive some of the anxiety and expectation of my early scholastic memories back so many years ago.

BACK TO SCHOOL!

This is what school used to feel like

Weather in the 50's, work for the week pretty much wrapped up, time to go to the gym and actually do some thinking, stimulating classes.... Wow, this is what my idyllic memories of undergrad were like, and today, I relived the experience at MIT.

A 93 by any other name is.... still a 93

Here's an interesting article about my home county, where it takes a 94 to get an A in high school instead of a 90 like in many other parts of the country. Apparently, parents are rallying to water down the grading system to match the rest of the nation.... But how much will it really change things?

College admission boards keep track of different parts of the country, and Fairfax County with several top 50 high schools and the magnet high school TJHSST (a.k.a. Future Einstein High) is likely known across the country as a tough place to go to school - i.e. a 3.5 from Fairfax probably equals a 3.8 from somewhere else, and 3.8 from Fairfax is truly elite.

I don't see how changing the grading system will accomplish anything. Fairfax just won't be an outlier anymore. Congrats parents, your children will no longer stand out with a slightly higher GPA if the measures pass.

My favorite quote from the article proves the point itself: A parent mentions that her daughter is a straight C student, and as a result, doesn't stand a chance of getting into the University of Virginia, which happens to be my alma mater. What this deluded parent doesn't realize is if the measure were to pass and your daughter were to become a half B and half C student, or even a straight B student, she STILL wouldn't have a chance of getting into UVA. UVA's looking for the closest to straight A's possible, and importantly, emphasises admitting well-rounded individuals who have stretched themselves by engaging in many different extracurricular activities. This girl needs to study harder and the grades will take care of themselves.

On a side note, as an in-state school receiving several thousand apps each year from Fairfax county, of all universities she could have mentioned, UVA would be particularly well aquainted with Fairfax County's grading scale.

This feels good

Got home at 10:30 tonight from a 15 hour grad school day... Only difference, is that I have no homework to do tonight. How nice. This feels good.

Need.... Balance

Aside from making it out on Friday and Saturday (necessary for sanity), I spent the whole weekend aside from eating and a run, working on schoolwork.

Good news - I've pretty much finished everything for the upcoming week.

Bad news - I didn't have a moment to myself, and didn't do anything aside from work when I wasn't out and about.... I could feel my life flowing down the sieve.

Starting to Surf The Tidal Wave

This past week, I was overwhelmed by work, and I didn't manage my time well... I went to several events on whims, like guest speakers and club presentations, and was under the gun to get work done the day before it was due....

So, now, I'm focusing on getting all the weeks work done this weekend - and have already been able to clear out work up to Wednesday. We'll see how this works, but, if I can keep a buffer, that'll make it easier to go to all these ad hoc events.

Hitting the Wall

Not so bad, not so bad, wham! That was my week.

After a fun Friday night out, I realized that I had a mountain of work due starting on Monday. It took me over an hour just to get organized and figure out all I had to do. So, for the past 48 hours, with a brief respite with a Core Team dinner which was highly tasty, I have been doing school work.

I have to echo Kim on this one, DMD (Data Models and Decisions) has engulfed my life!

A surpising new hair accessory

Now that I'm biking to school, I had to make a vital decision: style vs. safety. Though afraid that my hair would be ruined for full days of pre-term revision class fun, meeting new classmates for the first time; the overwhelming fact that my Murphy's luck would kick in the first time I neglected to wear a helmet made me veer to the geeky, but secure side.

Miraculously, I've found that my helmet actually makes my hair better! It feels silkier, and as my hair is usually out of control a la Harry Potter, the initial pressure on my scalp in the morning somehow manages to hold it in place. Possible 100K idea here if I can figure out how to remarket this as the opposite of curlers.

Back to school

Yesterday was the first day of pre-term. I rolled in with very little sleep from still having cleaned up from last night's grill test run at 7:45, and from 8-3, was bombarded with Accounting, Calc, Econ, and Finance.

Good news - Econ knowledge ain't bad.

Bad news - I could hear the rust grating off in my brain as I attempted to do Calculus after several years.

I'll be back tomorrow morning at 8 for more.