Anywho, first order of business is to say that of course, school is back in session and BOOMING. I am taking 9 credit hours, but only 6 are actual courses (3 are research credits); Database Management Systems and Object Oriented Languages and Systems. Fortunately, despite the workload, I am enjoying my classes and the material being taught in them (and they kind of go hand in hand conceptually so it's a plus for me!). I am also (for the first time) the PI, or Principal Investigator, for a research study and am working with a new Ph.D. student (Jim Shepherd). He also got a liberal arts degree so we have become somewhat of kindred souls in our research endeavours. Being Principal Investigator basically means I'm the one responsible for orchestrating the logistics of the study; fortunately I have Jim, my co-PI, and two awesome faculty advisors (Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill and Dr. Sarah Heckman) to work with, which makes much less stressful. I should have a link to my website somewhere on here (and if I don't I should) where the details of my previous and current research are kept - this too is slightly out of date but I'm working on it :). As papers are written and results are gathered, I will be posting study artifacts and knick knacks to my website. I will also, as I said, be attempting to keep my blog up to date with cool findings and random "brainstorming" sessions (among other cool related research stuff).
Of course school is keeping me busy, but my plan for this year is to try and change things up. I'm one of those people who always re-evaluates everything I do to see what can be made more efficient. To start, I'm on a new schedule. No more up until 3 am (well, not as often) and no more sleeping until noon. Everyday, up by 8-9 I am in bed by 10-11...notice I use time gaps - I know I'm not perfect and this is my way of giving myself "breathing room". I'm working on being consistent in how I allot my time during the day, but I already feel much more productive just because I have the day to get things done. I also figured since I have an increased workload with me also being a member/officer of WiCS (Women in Computer Science) so I should allow more time in my day for my busy schedule. Maybe it would make more sense to not do as much, but I like getting involved. I get to meet awesome people and have awesome experiences to remember and talk about. If there is one thing I would recommend, as a matter of fact, is to get involved. Find your passion (as I've found mine), because it really is the best feeling in the world, even when it gets hard (and trust me, it will get hard).
Now after that tangent, the point is, I want to be the best me I can be and there are things I definitely need to do to make that happen (working on my diet, and exercise is next -- happy body = happy mind). Especially since I plan to do my preliminary doctoral exam at the end of the year (yikes!). I have a technical interview workshop I'm going to tonight and plenty of research work to catch up on, and of course we can't forget my coursework. It's a lot, but I love it and it's my motivation. And right now it's motivating me to end this blog entry so that I can get back to my work!
Until next time! :)
Of course school is keeping me busy, but my plan for this year is to try and change things up. I'm one of those people who always re-evaluates everything I do to see what can be made more efficient. To start, I'm on a new schedule. No more up until 3 am (well, not as often) and no more sleeping until noon. Everyday, up by 8-9 I am in bed by 10-11...notice I use time gaps - I know I'm not perfect and this is my way of giving myself "breathing room". I'm working on being consistent in how I allot my time during the day, but I already feel much more productive just because I have the day to get things done. I also figured since I have an increased workload with me also being a member/officer of WiCS (Women in Computer Science) so I should allow more time in my day for my busy schedule. Maybe it would make more sense to not do as much, but I like getting involved. I get to meet awesome people and have awesome experiences to remember and talk about. If there is one thing I would recommend, as a matter of fact, is to get involved. Find your passion (as I've found mine), because it really is the best feeling in the world, even when it gets hard (and trust me, it will get hard).
Now after that tangent, the point is, I want to be the best me I can be and there are things I definitely need to do to make that happen (working on my diet, and exercise is next -- happy body = happy mind). Especially since I plan to do my preliminary doctoral exam at the end of the year (yikes!). I have a technical interview workshop I'm going to tonight and plenty of research work to catch up on, and of course we can't forget my coursework. It's a lot, but I love it and it's my motivation. And right now it's motivating me to end this blog entry so that I can get back to my work!
Until next time! :)
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