originally posted november 09, 2001

not getting any easier

Another week, another year taken off my life.

The intensity is really ramping up here: now that midterms are over, it is a time for increasingly difficult work and increasing frustration. Now that Daylight Savings Time is over, it is a time for lots of darkness after 5:30 PM. Fortunately, the weather has been unusually warm lately, so at least that's one less thing to whine about.

This sort of thing happens every semester, and I always complain about how much work I have to do between sessions of instant messaging and gaming. However, this semester there is a notable twist: as a Course Assistant, I also assist other students who may be failing a course they thought was an easy A. My job as a CA still occupies about 20-30 hours a week, many of which are spent answering e-mails or grading assignments. Grading itself takes many, many hours, and it is very hard to maintain a schedule amidst all of my other obligations. On top of it all, I still work three morning shifts at the information desk, but this is probably the last semester that I'll be working there.

College Bowl is also taking its toll, as usual: I have already helped to manage one tournament, attended one tournament out in Cleveland, and will be traveling to Canada next weekend to attend another. In two weeks, I will once again be in a lecture hall for most of the day to manage our fall intramural tournament. I also maintain our web page, along with Livestat, my Perl-based stats management software which hit version 1.0 on October 31. Interestingly enough, Livestat has drawn enough interest among the academic competition community to become a bargaining chip of sorts: I may be attending tournaments solely to manage statistics in exchange for a discount on tournament fees.

Overall, though, it has been a very eventful semester so far. The biggest event seems to be fatigue: in the past week, there have been several occasions where I felt that I was literally about to collapse. Of course, most of my professors respond to this physical lethargy by complaining that I'm not paying attention. Thanks.

I think I'm developing either a dependence on or an immunity to caffeine. Hopefully, it's the latter.

I'm not sure what my schedule will look like for spring 2002 as of yet, but I should figure it out quickly. Registration starts Monday, November 12. Right now, I'll probably be taking a systems course, Advanced Japanese II, a Japanese elective to finish my minor, and something else to push me over the minimum number of "units" required for full-time study. My options for the systems couse are Operating Systems (OS) and Computer Networks. Networks is generally considered to be a lighter course in terms of workload, and fills up much more quickly than OS. OS, on the other hand, is among the heaviest courses available (18 units) and routinely takes 30-40 hours of work per week to keep up with the very strenuous pace. In lieu of the heavier course load, I may also do an independent study project. For the sake of overloaded information desk workers at this school, I would like to make a touch-screen kiosk providing instant access to the information that people ask most often (phone numbers, movie times, event information) localized into multiple languages and paired with a small thermal printer. The technology is definitely there to support such a product, but I would need to find a professor and funding to allow development to proceed. It would be an excellent project for a resume, too.

All in all, this semester is once again killing me. That which does not kill me only makes me bitch about how difficult it is.

class by class

15-200: Data Structures

My biggest enemy in this class is the clock. I still work office hours on Wednesday evenings, which makes a busy information desk shift look like a picnic. At least at the desk, I don't have to move around a whole lot; when at my "office" hours, I have to fight my way through crowds of people in a computer lab to answer everyone's questions before I leave to work on grading and other homework assignments. And no, "does this work?" or "is this right?" still aren't questions I will answer.

15-415: Database Applications

Every semester, I have one course I call "nap time" due to the sheer amount of sleep I get there. This semester, it's Databases. I haven't been doing too well on recent assignments, and the semester-long project is absolutely punishing when it comes to raw time investment. I shouldn't have taken a course with such little certainty about it, a problem I faced last semester with Astronomy. Mid-semester grade: A. Outlook: Uncertain.

15-451: Algorithm Design and Implementation

More math stuff. Every time I hear the word "Prove," I cringe involuntarily. Although this is the last core course that I have to take, there is still another logic or analysis course that I have to take. I don't like this sort of math. Mid-semester grade: B. Outlook: Uncertain.

57-117: Choir Ensemble for Non-Majors

The surprising black cloud hanging over my semester, at least from a grading point of view. I enjoy this class very much, and the conductor is easily the best that I've ever worked with. However, the rehearsal time is 4:30 PM, after the day has already taken its toll on me. In high school, when rehearsals were at 9:00 in the morning, this was never a problem. Here, just staying awake and focused is challenging enough. Mid-semester grade: C+. Outlook: Optimistic.

82-371: Advanced Japanese I

Things are getting better here, just as long as I find the time to do all of the homework. As always, there is plenty for me to do, but now at least I have a lead time of more than 48 hours to do most things. This is not a course where homework can be done at 2:00 AM with any chance of success. Mid-semester grade: B. Outlook: Optimistic.

82-373: Structure of the Japanese Language

Although discussion classes such as this one are usually freeform, Structure is particularly loose in its organization. Because the professor does not make enough copies of most reading assignments, it is not feasible to get caught up most of the time. Homework assignments are often explained as late as ten minutes after the class's official end time, when everyone is anxious to get out anyway. I haven't done anything for my final project, although I really should. Mid-semester grade: A-. Outlook: Uncertain.

Back to November 2001, or to the year 2001.