News of the week so far:
I found out that I will not be teaching this semester. They haven't told me why I won't be teaching, just that I won't be teaching. My new job title is "General Physics Lecture Assistantship" which means that I will be working in the department 'help desk' area and tutoring. This also means that I have to know General Physics I and II with calculus and with algebra like the back of my hand. I am not pleased about this development because I was hoping to teach the same class that I taught last semester. I was hoping for this primarily because I wouldn't have to do any extra prep this semester, it was all done last semester. Oh well, everyone has to pay their dues, this is one of the ways I will be paying mine.
I also found out that my prof wants me to research this semester. He promised me at the end of the summer that I wouldn't be researching during the regular semesters because he wanted me to do well in my classes. Yesterday, he gave me a new project to work on because he doesn't want me to fall behind research-wise. The rest of the lab is researching this semester so I should be too. I will be working on an extension of the project I was working on this past summer. I spent the entire summer trying to synthesize a certain NaGe compound. I never succeeded in making what I wanted to make because another compound would form first that was so stable no other reactions would occur. Now, I have to make a lot of this other compound and send it off to the government to have it analyzed and characterized. Then I have to make more of it to try to use it to make the compound I was originally trying to make over the summer. It takes about a week to make 1-2 grams of this compound. I have to make 10 to 12 grams of it before I can do anything else with it. Bleh. I know my prof wouldn't ask me to do all of this if he didn't think I could do it but I am already starting to feel the weight of what is expected of me.
I started thinking about my classes this week too. I need to make straight A's this semester and I know that isn't going to happen. So I am hoping for at least two A's from my three classes. If I bust my ass in Materials I should be able to get an A. Once I figure out how to write down what my Quantum professor wants to see on his exams, I should be able to earn an A. I am uneasy about my Lasers class though. Everyone in the department is telling me that this prof is an excellent teacher, but a really hard grader. He only gives out two A's each semester no matter what the grade percentages are for the rest of the students in the class. I really need to do well this semester. Pulling straight Bs last semester didn't help. I am trying to avoid taking my "comps" at the end of my masters work, I need at least a 3.5 GPA for the department to waive the exam for PhD work. I am trying to realistically come up with better study habits and construct a study system that will be more beneficial than the one that I have currently.
Classes start on Monday. I am more nervous about this semester than excited.
I rearranged some furniture in my apartment. Its a bit more spacious now.
I spent the afternoon trying to get financial aid stuff figured out. In my sixth year of college, I am taking out my first student loan. Hopefully I will be able to stop worrying so much about money now and be a little more comfortable.
I hate leftovers for dinner, took a nap with Zoe on the floor while trying to watch the Food Network, then I baked cookies to make my house smell good. I'll bring the cookies to the boy in the lab tomorrow. I don't need to eat two batches of cookies and get fat, I'll just make them fat instead.
My 'must read' stack of books didn't decrease nearly as much as I was hoping it would this winter break. I'll have to keep working at it. I should go read now...
I found out that I will not be teaching this semester. They haven't told me why I won't be teaching, just that I won't be teaching. My new job title is "General Physics Lecture Assistantship" which means that I will be working in the department 'help desk' area and tutoring. This also means that I have to know General Physics I and II with calculus and with algebra like the back of my hand. I am not pleased about this development because I was hoping to teach the same class that I taught last semester. I was hoping for this primarily because I wouldn't have to do any extra prep this semester, it was all done last semester. Oh well, everyone has to pay their dues, this is one of the ways I will be paying mine.
I also found out that my prof wants me to research this semester. He promised me at the end of the summer that I wouldn't be researching during the regular semesters because he wanted me to do well in my classes. Yesterday, he gave me a new project to work on because he doesn't want me to fall behind research-wise. The rest of the lab is researching this semester so I should be too. I will be working on an extension of the project I was working on this past summer. I spent the entire summer trying to synthesize a certain NaGe compound. I never succeeded in making what I wanted to make because another compound would form first that was so stable no other reactions would occur. Now, I have to make a lot of this other compound and send it off to the government to have it analyzed and characterized. Then I have to make more of it to try to use it to make the compound I was originally trying to make over the summer. It takes about a week to make 1-2 grams of this compound. I have to make 10 to 12 grams of it before I can do anything else with it. Bleh. I know my prof wouldn't ask me to do all of this if he didn't think I could do it but I am already starting to feel the weight of what is expected of me.
I started thinking about my classes this week too. I need to make straight A's this semester and I know that isn't going to happen. So I am hoping for at least two A's from my three classes. If I bust my ass in Materials I should be able to get an A. Once I figure out how to write down what my Quantum professor wants to see on his exams, I should be able to earn an A. I am uneasy about my Lasers class though. Everyone in the department is telling me that this prof is an excellent teacher, but a really hard grader. He only gives out two A's each semester no matter what the grade percentages are for the rest of the students in the class. I really need to do well this semester. Pulling straight Bs last semester didn't help. I am trying to avoid taking my "comps" at the end of my masters work, I need at least a 3.5 GPA for the department to waive the exam for PhD work. I am trying to realistically come up with better study habits and construct a study system that will be more beneficial than the one that I have currently.
Classes start on Monday. I am more nervous about this semester than excited.
I rearranged some furniture in my apartment. Its a bit more spacious now.
I spent the afternoon trying to get financial aid stuff figured out. In my sixth year of college, I am taking out my first student loan. Hopefully I will be able to stop worrying so much about money now and be a little more comfortable.
I hate leftovers for dinner, took a nap with Zoe on the floor while trying to watch the Food Network, then I baked cookies to make my house smell good. I'll bring the cookies to the boy in the lab tomorrow. I don't need to eat two batches of cookies and get fat, I'll just make them fat instead.
My 'must read' stack of books didn't decrease nearly as much as I was hoping it would this winter break. I'll have to keep working at it. I should go read now...
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