The last first day of school

It doesn’t even feel real. You’re used to waking up and dragging your butt out of bed and walking/biking/riding the bus to school every single morning for the past fifteen and a half years. And then suddenly you wake up and you realize, “Today is the last first day of school in possibly my entire life.”

I’m so ready to be done with all of this, but on the other hand it’s a little sad. I think this semester is going to be filled with a lot of moments like that. There are parts about school that I hate (like doing a project or staying up late studying), but I will miss these moments all the same. It’s weird looking back and seeing an entire schooling behind you, and look at how far you’ve come.

One of the classes I’m taking this semester is a class most people take either sophomore or junior year. I had put it off for awhile and it’s strange just how easy it all seems. I look back and I realize just how much I’ve learned - I’ve learned to program, I’ve learned how an operating system works, I’ve learned how little voltages create an entire huge system. I’ve learned about gates and Turing Machines and regular expressions and I’ve even proven that the set of all numbers is infinite.

And now it’s almost over. It doesn’t mean that I will stop learning. It just means that things will change. I’m excited. It’s no secret that I seriously hate school. But there’s also something so familiar about it all that will soon be gone.

January 22, 2009 @ 9:51 am . Comments (7)

Future — Tags: change, computer science, Future, school

New Year Meme

So, yesterday it was 80F. Today it’s 45F. Tomorrow it will be 35F and raining. I hate this weather. I hate this weather. I just wish it would make up it’s mind.

Okay, now I know it’s January 4th, but I really wanted to do a New Year Meme. I love memes! I don’t do enough of them at all because I can never find good ones and they tend to be really personal and for some reason I’m terrified of putting my Real Life Self online, but I’m no good at pretending to be someone else either. So here goes, behind the cut. (more…)

January 4, 2009 @ 2:14 pm . Comments (5)

General — Tags: change, nostalgia

Year in review

Mei Zhu style, month by month.

January:
- Went to Hawaii!
- J and I start going on dates
- School starts up again. D: Always a bad thing.
- My favorite arcade closes down, which was just downright awful.

February:
- For the first time, I drop a class
- J makes me dinner for Valentine’s Day
- Missing the weather of Hawaii

March:
- I start seriously hating my probability class
- Register for classes for summer and fall
- I find an apartment to live in next semester

April:
- J and I start officially “going out” on Facebook (hahaha … ha …)
- It’s a very happy time for me
- Playing way too much The Sims 2

May:
- Get all As and a B
- My brother’s undergraduate graduation with highest honors
- Only a week or so vacation before summer school starts.
- I get my review at work, which is good but I feel unrecognized for my hard work, so I decide to quit
- J and I get our kitten Augustus from the Humane Society

June:
- Summer school starts - studio art and networking
- Still working at the same place (tech support) - haven’t found a new job yet
- Move in to live with J (and Augustus) for the summer
- Working and schooling from 8-5 is tough. D:

July:
- Summer school ends - I’m sad for it to be over because my classes were fun, especially art
- Augustus is a huge brat but we love him anyway.
- Happy birthday to me! I turn 21!

August:
- I finally know what I want to do with my life - become a graphic designer/web programmer
- I move in to my first apartment!
- Playing way too much Mass Effect
- Find a new job finally as a Web Applications Specialist in the College of Education at the university

September:
- School starts up again, and grad school starts for my brother
- The semester starts off with a bang, and as I’m taking 5 classes plus a lab, it’s insane
- My operating system projects nearly kill me
- I attend the career fair, and it is an enormous letdown for the most part

October:
- Microsoft Interview is the crappiest interview ever
- Exxon Interview goes okay
- Optaros Interview goes well
- Seriously stressing about school
- I went as a fairy princess for Halloween

November:
- J turns 22!
- Augustus turns 1!
- My brother and his girlfriend move out into their own apartment
- Nanowrimo starts and ends! I hit about 52,000 words.
- Extremely stressful month
- Second interview with Optaros

December:
- My friends and I start a game of Mage: The Awakening
- My brother turns 23!
- Finals~
- I receive an offer from Optaros
- The semester ends, and I miraculously make four As and a B
- My grandparents come to visit
- Christmas happens
- Playing way too much Fallout 3

Resolutions for the new year:
- Handle change better
- Keep my head up and looking forward
- Have more fun - it’s my last semester at university!

December 31, 2008 @ 12:46 pm . Comments (4)

General — Tags: change, living, nostalgia

Overwhelmed about changes

This semester has been by far the most stressful semester I’ve ever had, but I realized today that it’s because so much stuff has happened.

This semester, I moved out on my own for the first time. It’s really made me so sensitive to the fact that I was alone. I realized I hate being home alone. And then my brother moved out, and I wasn’t ready for that to happen. And then this is my last semester of school for quite possibly ever, depending on whether I decide to get another degree or go to grad school. But for now, this is it. And then I had to start interviewing for jobs for after I graduate.

Everything has been so fast this semester. I’ve been so tired and overwhelmed lately and I realized that it’s because all of this has been going on.

I did end up getting a full time job as a developer in a web consulting company. That’s why J and I are going to start looking seriously for a decent flat downtown, or a cozy little house or duplex in north Austin. I’m scared of the future but I’m slowly accepting that things have to change. I’m at that stage in my life where everything changes.

Slowly I’m accepting everything that’s been going on. It’s been hard but it’s been… okay. No one ever told me that I’d still be learning about growing up when I’m twenty-one.

December 28, 2008 @ 8:49 pm . Comments (3)

Future — Tags: change, Future, real life