50% (Sophomore Year)
I sat down to write this post on Tuesday, only a couple hours after my last final, but something didn't feel right about it. So I put it aside, and now I'm back, 5 days later, ready to do this post justice. Although I'm not really sure anything I can write will do justice to incredible 9 months that were sophomore year, but now is as good a time as ever to give it a go.
Before we start, a quick finals week recap: Last two days of classes were awful (aka ridiculously stressful and busy). Thursday - Saturday was awesome because I all really did was work on 201. Saturday afternoon - Tuesday was awful again (Kayla left and I actually had to study which was stressful). Exams were a mixed bag, but overall I realized finals week is a downer because everyone's schedules change and didn't know if/when I was going to see so many of my friends before break.
Anyway, I wanted to make this post as meaningful as I possibly could, so I decided to mention some people who made my year really great by name. I was really apprehensive about doing this because I know that I'll forget someone and don't want to hurt any feelings or anything. To those of you who I didn't mention, everyone of you had an impact on the past year or so of my life. Even if it was only a smile when I saw you on Academic Row, I'm really lucky and blessed to have you all in my life.
To my beautiful roommate Kayla, I can't imagine a better roommate, partner-in-crime, shoulder-to-cry-on and all around support system for the past year. I love you so so so much and treasure every memory of our late night conversations, Covert Affairs binges, witty banter and everything else that has happened as a result of living together. I am beyond excited to room with you again next year (in a room with more space!!!) and to tackle junior year with you by my side <3
To my closest friends (Hannah, Tara, Alex R., Noah, Quentin, Joe and Christina), I am constantly amazed by how close we have gotten in the past two years. You guys keep me laughing when I'm stressed out of my mind, keep me company on lazy weeknights, put up with my constant ramblings and are always so supportive of everything I do. I'm so grateful that I have you all in my life and I'm at my most comfortable when I'm with you!
To all of my friends at Intervarsity, thank you so much for welcoming me with open arms this year. I've found my spiritual home on campus with you and large group is consistently a highlight of my week. I didn't come into sophomore year looking for a new fellowship, but I found one and got way more than I bargained for! You challenge me to be a better Christian and a better person. Winter Conference was one of the highlights of the entire year and I am so glad that Kayla dragged me to large group, because without her I wouldn't have met you beautiful people. To my small group (Kayla, Michael, Alyssa, Sean, Liam, Charlie and Marissa), I've learned so much from studying scripture with you guys. Having a place for open discussion has really allowed my faith to flourish. To the Thursday Late Night crew (Alex N., Katy, Gabe, and everyone else), I'm sorry I'm always so tired, but I really do love hanging out with you guys until the wee hours of Friday morning (and especially roasting the heck out of Alex). I'll be working on my Coup skills. Also, shout out to Maria, Susan, Sarah Henry and Rachel Morin, who are all wonderful people but don't fit into either of the above categories.
To my study buddies/partners-in-suffering Puja and Taylor, thank you for always being there to answer my dumb questions, find my memory leaks, sanity check my homework and help me survive my double major. Life would be so much more stressful without knowing you guys are stuck in the same boat as I am. You guys are great and knowing that we'll be suffering together makes the though of next semester a little less scary. Here's to many more hours in ERK study lounges coding and doing math homework.
To all of my professors over the past year, thanks for the suffering I guess. All jokes aside, I enjoyed almost every class I took at least sometimes. Some of them (341, 301, 302) definitely pushed me to my limit, but those are the classes I'm the most proud of my work in. After two years, I know I chose the right majors and I'm really excited to see what the future holds. I learned so much about how to be a better programmer and mathematician over the past year, and so much of it was thanks to some incredible teachers. So yeah, thanks for that.
To Dr. Gibson, thank you for everything, but especially for hiring me to be a TA for 201. TAing had truly become an escape of mine and being forced to spend time in ITE was the catalyst for so many of the awesome things that happened this year. Working for you has been truly incredible and I'm so glad that I've gotten to know more in a non-classroom environment. Thanks for letting me chill in your office when 240 is a madhouse, for always being a supportive and understanding boss, for always having candy for us, for teaching me how to be a great TA and for being such a great role model in CS. I look up to you so much and I can't wait to work for you again next year!
To all of my fellow TAs, it's been a blast working with all of you. You guys make due date office hours tolerable, exam grading almost enjoyable and weekly meetings one of the highlights of my week. You never cease to crack me up and I've learned so much about how to be a TA from all of you. To the 40ish 201 students I got to call mine, you all have treated me so well. Thanks for listening to me ramble at the beginning of each lab, for being the most easygoing students that I could have asked for and for being the motivation behind finishing my grading. I learned so much about myself from being your TA, and I hope that you learned half as much about computer science from me.
To my ITE friends (especially Avery, Beatriz, Mary, Maria, Jordan, Katie and Hailee), I'm so glad I've gotten to know all of you this year. You are truly wonderful people and are a huge part of the reason I've spent more and more time in ITE the past semester. My life would be so much more boring if Dr. Gibson hadn't brought us together (because let's be real, she's the reason I'n friends with any of you). Thanks for helping me make ITE my second home on campus. Can't wait for next semester so I can hang out in 240 and "do homework" with you guys (although I'm surprisingly productive most days)!
I'm almost positive I've forgotten someone, but I guess the point that I was trying to make was that sophomore year was incredible and might have been the best year of my life. After freshman year, I thought I knew all college had to offer, but boy was I wrong. Becoming a part of different groups and activities on campus has meant that I have met some of my favorite people on campus and that I feel secure in my place on campus. Classes haven't always been easy, but they have been worth it for the most part. TAing has maybe been the best decision of my year because not only has it allowed me to meet some great people, but I was able to have an escape from my homework that still felt productive. Plus, I learned that I really love to help people experience computer science for possibly the first time and just to teach in general. Also, I survived this year with little emotional trauma and without a ton of drama in my life, which was really nice because living on the Honors Floor was a little much at times. I can't find anymore words to describe how fulfilled I feel by the past year and how excited I am for junior year, so I guess I'll sign off for the night. (Oh, and also I'm 50% done undergrad. That's not terrifying at all.)
Once again, thank you to everyone who had a part in making this year so special <3
Until next time.
-E.
Before we start, a quick finals week recap: Last two days of classes were awful (aka ridiculously stressful and busy). Thursday - Saturday was awesome because I all really did was work on 201. Saturday afternoon - Tuesday was awful again (Kayla left and I actually had to study which was stressful). Exams were a mixed bag, but overall I realized finals week is a downer because everyone's schedules change and didn't know if/when I was going to see so many of my friends before break.
Anyway, I wanted to make this post as meaningful as I possibly could, so I decided to mention some people who made my year really great by name. I was really apprehensive about doing this because I know that I'll forget someone and don't want to hurt any feelings or anything. To those of you who I didn't mention, everyone of you had an impact on the past year or so of my life. Even if it was only a smile when I saw you on Academic Row, I'm really lucky and blessed to have you all in my life.
To my beautiful roommate Kayla, I can't imagine a better roommate, partner-in-crime, shoulder-to-cry-on and all around support system for the past year. I love you so so so much and treasure every memory of our late night conversations, Covert Affairs binges, witty banter and everything else that has happened as a result of living together. I am beyond excited to room with you again next year (in a room with more space!!!) and to tackle junior year with you by my side <3
To my closest friends (Hannah, Tara, Alex R., Noah, Quentin, Joe and Christina), I am constantly amazed by how close we have gotten in the past two years. You guys keep me laughing when I'm stressed out of my mind, keep me company on lazy weeknights, put up with my constant ramblings and are always so supportive of everything I do. I'm so grateful that I have you all in my life and I'm at my most comfortable when I'm with you!
To all of my friends at Intervarsity, thank you so much for welcoming me with open arms this year. I've found my spiritual home on campus with you and large group is consistently a highlight of my week. I didn't come into sophomore year looking for a new fellowship, but I found one and got way more than I bargained for! You challenge me to be a better Christian and a better person. Winter Conference was one of the highlights of the entire year and I am so glad that Kayla dragged me to large group, because without her I wouldn't have met you beautiful people. To my small group (Kayla, Michael, Alyssa, Sean, Liam, Charlie and Marissa), I've learned so much from studying scripture with you guys. Having a place for open discussion has really allowed my faith to flourish. To the Thursday Late Night crew (Alex N., Katy, Gabe, and everyone else), I'm sorry I'm always so tired, but I really do love hanging out with you guys until the wee hours of Friday morning (and especially roasting the heck out of Alex). I'll be working on my Coup skills. Also, shout out to Maria, Susan, Sarah Henry and Rachel Morin, who are all wonderful people but don't fit into either of the above categories.
To my study buddies/partners-in-suffering Puja and Taylor, thank you for always being there to answer my dumb questions, find my memory leaks, sanity check my homework and help me survive my double major. Life would be so much more stressful without knowing you guys are stuck in the same boat as I am. You guys are great and knowing that we'll be suffering together makes the though of next semester a little less scary. Here's to many more hours in ERK study lounges coding and doing math homework.
To all of my professors over the past year, thanks for the suffering I guess. All jokes aside, I enjoyed almost every class I took at least sometimes. Some of them (341, 301, 302) definitely pushed me to my limit, but those are the classes I'm the most proud of my work in. After two years, I know I chose the right majors and I'm really excited to see what the future holds. I learned so much about how to be a better programmer and mathematician over the past year, and so much of it was thanks to some incredible teachers. So yeah, thanks for that.
To Dr. Gibson, thank you for everything, but especially for hiring me to be a TA for 201. TAing had truly become an escape of mine and being forced to spend time in ITE was the catalyst for so many of the awesome things that happened this year. Working for you has been truly incredible and I'm so glad that I've gotten to know more in a non-classroom environment. Thanks for letting me chill in your office when 240 is a madhouse, for always being a supportive and understanding boss, for always having candy for us, for teaching me how to be a great TA and for being such a great role model in CS. I look up to you so much and I can't wait to work for you again next year!
To all of my fellow TAs, it's been a blast working with all of you. You guys make due date office hours tolerable, exam grading almost enjoyable and weekly meetings one of the highlights of my week. You never cease to crack me up and I've learned so much about how to be a TA from all of you. To the 40ish 201 students I got to call mine, you all have treated me so well. Thanks for listening to me ramble at the beginning of each lab, for being the most easygoing students that I could have asked for and for being the motivation behind finishing my grading. I learned so much about myself from being your TA, and I hope that you learned half as much about computer science from me.
To my ITE friends (especially Avery, Beatriz, Mary, Maria, Jordan, Katie and Hailee), I'm so glad I've gotten to know all of you this year. You are truly wonderful people and are a huge part of the reason I've spent more and more time in ITE the past semester. My life would be so much more boring if Dr. Gibson hadn't brought us together (because let's be real, she's the reason I'n friends with any of you). Thanks for helping me make ITE my second home on campus. Can't wait for next semester so I can hang out in 240 and "do homework" with you guys (although I'm surprisingly productive most days)!
I'm almost positive I've forgotten someone, but I guess the point that I was trying to make was that sophomore year was incredible and might have been the best year of my life. After freshman year, I thought I knew all college had to offer, but boy was I wrong. Becoming a part of different groups and activities on campus has meant that I have met some of my favorite people on campus and that I feel secure in my place on campus. Classes haven't always been easy, but they have been worth it for the most part. TAing has maybe been the best decision of my year because not only has it allowed me to meet some great people, but I was able to have an escape from my homework that still felt productive. Plus, I learned that I really love to help people experience computer science for possibly the first time and just to teach in general. Also, I survived this year with little emotional trauma and without a ton of drama in my life, which was really nice because living on the Honors Floor was a little much at times. I can't find anymore words to describe how fulfilled I feel by the past year and how excited I am for junior year, so I guess I'll sign off for the night. (Oh, and also I'm 50% done undergrad. That's not terrifying at all.)
Once again, thank you to everyone who had a part in making this year so special <3
Until next time.
-E.
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