End of Semester Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fENGUA-fFM&feature=youtu.be

Excursion Video

http://youtu.be/IfqHaVVzd2o

Major Questions

Unfortunately, because I didn’t realize that this assignment was assigned until Monday and because of a Tuesday on which I had commitments from 9:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M., I was unable to schedule or complete all of the interviews. Earlier, though, in talking to my major advisor and looking forward to my future at tech, I am pleased with my future as an EE, and I am ready to schedule for next semester and know the path I need to take. However, I was unable to speak with an older student or a professor. I chose my major because I have always been interested in science and invention. In particular I want to be a part of the advance of technology. As such, I went to engineering camps and did a good deal of research on my own with two different potential end goals: nanotechnology and quantum computing. Both of these fields fascinate me and I would be satisfied being involved in either. Because I know where I want to end up, all I had to choose was a major that would route to that end. I chose Electrical Engineering because I talked to multiple advisors and others in the EE field and learned from them that EE was one of the many routes to nanotechnology. At the engineering camps I’ve been to I found that I enjoyed toying with computer hardware and soldering things, so that additionally pushed me towards EE since EE and computer engineering are very closely related. I feel confident about the major I’ve chosen, though that may change next semester when I take my first actual EE courses and get a taste of what the subject is actually like. If I were to change my major I would likely pursue materials science engineering. I didn’t enjoy chemistry very much in high school but I believe that that was mostly due to the teacher, so I would be willing to try again. The things accomplished by MSE are very interesting and if I weren’t trying to get involved in nanotech or quantum computing I would definitely be working with the various types of materials.

Mid-Term Progress

On a scale of 1 to 100 I would say my progress thus far this semester is around an 85. I have been doing fairly well in my classes, but the amount of homework I have been doing is not sufficient to maintain my current averages. Luckily, I am fully aware that I need to increase the amount of work I've been doing, and I will do so in the coming weeks to ensure that my grades do not suffer. As it is, I've been spending too much time socializing and not enough time doing actual homework. The most difficult thing to adjust to academically has been the expectation that you learn and understand on your own rather than having the teacher spell out how to do a problem for you. You are expected to spend your own time as opposed to class time learning and understanding concepts, which was difficult for me to adapt to. Socially, it has been difficult for me having friends around living in close proximity. At home, I would have plenty of time alone to peacefully complete my work with free time to spare. Here, however, I find it hard to turn down enjoyable opportunities to do work instead, and I end up procrastinating longer than I should. Particularly in CS 1371 – this class causes me no end of trouble because of the large amount of homework given every week and the difficulty of that homework and the concepts contained within. To start the second half of the semester, I plan to focus on spending enough time on homework. If I can spend a sufficient amount of time on my homework, everything else should work out.

I’m enjoying GT so far, and it’s actually a lot more fun than I had anticipated. There are tons of things to do and new people to meet and do these things with, and meeting new people is a much smoother process than I expected. Dorm life in particular makes meeting people easier and there is never a dull moment when people are living all around me instead of the isolation I lived in when I was at home. When I need to study, there are always people in my classes to study with along with the perfect place to work, and being on a college campus means there are plenty of places to go once we are done studying. With all of the good opportunities to study and to study well, classes have been easy so far. There is more homework than I expected but the smaller number of tests per semester is a nice change of pace from weekly or semi-weekly tests. I haven’t experienced too much of Atlanta yet as finding my way around and enjoying Tech has occupied most of my time, but since I live an hour and a half away I know my way around the city and not much is new to me. I am looking forward to living here full-time, not to mention going to see the Falcons and going to Music Midtown soon. College is a lot different from high school, but in reality it doesn’t feel all that different. I have to feed myself and do my own laundry but I still keep in touch with friends through text and Facebook and two of my friends from high school accompanied me to Tech so the transition was even easier. I still talk to my parents as well and I know that while they don’t live with me anymore they’re still there should I need them. I particularly want to experience a Falcons game and Music Midtown out in Atlanta. I haven’t really followed professional football much in the past so it’s a new experience I’ve been waiting to have and after going to Bonnaroo this summer I’m very excited about getting to see more concerts at Music Midtown. I’ll also be going to hang out with friends at Six Flags this Friday, which is a new experience because even though I live in Georgia I’ve never been to Six Flags Over Georgia. Last but not least, I look forward to getting involved on campus and continuing to attend on campus events as they are hosted.

So I'm in college now. Everything is different and yet it's really not; I'm still in school, still learning things, I kept a few friends from high school, and I'm only going to school an hour and a half from home instead of 45 minutes from home. It's definitely a different and a liberating experience not living at my parent's house any longer and having to take care of myself. In terms of goals for this semester, my #1 goal is to survive. Basically, I plan to eat some food, shower, and do laundry enough to get by, and everything else is secondary. In terms of academics, I want to do well but I'm not going to beat myself up about less than perfect grades. I see college as an experience with homework and academics as an integral part but not as the only part. I'm looking into joining multiple organizations as well, model UN in particular since I enjoyed it so much in high school. I'm also planning to learn to ice skate while I'm in college. I don't have any particular goals regarding talking to my family... I told them to call me as necessary and whenever they wanted to talk but aside from attempting to make sure I talk to my mom at least once a week I have no concrete plans to keep in touch constantly. Being only an hour and a half away from home, my parents aren't particularly distraught by the situation; if they need to they can just drive down for a visit.