2014 Was Weird

But weird in a cool way. As I begin my last semester, I can't imagine what 2015 might hold. Funny though: even when you think you know the storyline there are unexpected things that happen. Here are 2014 things that happened in my year:

Went to four time zones*
Helped build an android app
Commuted across state lines every day
Celebrated Tesla's birthday
Gave a talk at one of the biggest geoscience conference in the world
Spent more on coffee than food...probably
Helped start a club on campus
Gained more elevation than a popular 14'er in four hours*
Spent more money on Red Sox tickets than Rockies tickets*
Got chosen by the Grav Lyfe*...multiple times
Decided what I want to do with the next part of my life
Traveled out of the country for the first time
Applied to grad school
Became able to run for ten straight minutes
Started a band that has fans
Drove a vibroseis truck
Started learning Dutch
Drove 85 in a 55
Drove 100 in  a 75
Traveled to eight states*
Had six flights
Learned about magnetotellurics, exponential filters, total electron content, and the method of Frobenius, and many other things
Watched two lunar eclipses...well, one. Does working in Eclipse count?
Fell in love with Maine black bear ice cream, poutine, and london fogs
Saw fireflies for the first time


*:

- I had a layover in Chicago. So that counts. But not as a state visited.
- Mount Yamnuska in Alberta has more elevation gain (base to peak) than Mount Bierstadt.
- I payed ~$35 for a Red Sox vs. Cubs ticket at Fenway Park. I went to two Rockies games all season, both in April, which cost me $20.
- Remember: we don't choose the Grav Lyfe, the Grav Lyfe chooses us.
- My layover in Chicago doesn't count.

Sophomorey-ness

I write this post physically exhausted, though not emotionally...yet. Classes have been good; homework alright. Other stuff crazy and mostly good. But it leaves me with no time to get ahead on homework and a desire to go to bed before midnight (which I mostly have). I know, crazy, right?

It's crazy being a sophomore. First, I have to make my own food. I miss having munch money to get Starbucks and get Naked, and I don't feel like spending money to continue that habit. I miss coming back to Maple and seeing the floor in the study room, like clockwork. I'm sad that I can't meet new people in Slate. I miss midnight conversations with my roommate, as I am currently in a single room.

But it's good being a sophomore. I can make fun of freshman and their happiness yet insecurity and freshness, while the juniors still  make fun of us. I don't have to carry my keys everywhere. Most of my classes are interesting and relevant. Living at the Enchanted Palace, my practically on-campus house, is pretty sweet too. And I don't know- I just feel cooler, yet jaded now.

But so far, everything's fine, we're all fine here.

Dear Younger Self: Things to Know Before Freshman Year

Why hello there, freshman me (and new freshman eavesdropping). You have just completed the M-Climb and Orientation blather, but school starts and stuff gets real. Get ready to lose your time, sleep, mental health, hygiene, and anything "normal" about you (except normal forces! Gotta love those). Below is a non-exhaustive list of things that would be pretty nifty to know going in, although some will have to be learned the hard way. Some things are things that just work for me, some things are past advice given by older students, some things are facts of life at Mines. It's gonna be difficult, but it's gonna be a blast!!

***
Getting ahead isn't the most important thing anymore.

People who think they know it all will try to tell you stuff. Wise people will try to give you great advice.You have to figure out who's full of good advice and who's just full of it.

Don't get behind. It takes one week to go to living homework assignment to assignment. And it's impossible to get ahead once you're behind, so take each semester and stay on top of it.

Choose Geophysics as a major because it's awesome and you are awesome, not because you don't want to take Chem II. Although that tidbit certainly makes it more attractive...

Have a test routine. Maybe you don't take tests well, or maybe there's one subject with an exam coming up that will make you shake. But find out ways to focus and relax. My routine is: study until two hours before the exam, pray for focus and help, maybe play the piano, eat a good meal, maybe listen to my iPod as I'm walking to the room, chew gum throughout the exam, and switch pencils if I'm on a problem.

Don't wait 'til midnight to start homework or studying. Just please, don't.

Wearing a suit to Career Day as a freshman = winning. They'll probably think you're a junior or grad student.

It's okay to cry. Just pull yourself together and focus on what you have to do next.

You're gonna hate EPICS as a class; you'll think it's stupid and useless. Hope to get a good team- although many people will complain about their teammates after they reviewed them and before the final report is due.

You'll probably either hate Chemistry or Physics. Or both.

Attitude is everything. If you think a class sucks, it will. If you think writing papers is dumb, your grades will reflect it. And if you keep muttering that you hate physics to your studio partners...you're gonna have a bad time.

Units! Remember to put them. Small things like these add up on exams.

Try everything, meet everyone, do everything, get involved, and put yourself out there first semester! This will be the perfect time to have fun and make friends before you can buckle down with harder classes second semester.

If you're on the 14 meals a week plan, you should take your books to breakfast, eat, study for a few hours, then eat lunch. Two-for-one meal swipes!

There are good and bad things about being on a small campus. Mostly good. But try to remember people's names who apparently know you. And try to be reasonable when something is suddenly changed, and don't do or say anything impulsive because you think it isn't fair, because it is a small campus.

Living in the dorms is awesome. Take advantage of the opportunity this year and become friends with a bunch of different people.

The food's okay. But after a few months (weeks?) you'll find that "stale" is an anagram for "Slate", which also will count for their music playlist.

It's impossible to watch an action movie without it being dissected from now on. Embrace it, or never watch movies with engineering students.

Don't be afraid to change, but remember who you are.

Don't go to EPICS on Fridays. Well, most Fridays.

If you bring a stapler to class the day the worksheet's due, everyone will love you.

There is no such thing as an easy A here.  If you want a grade, you'll have to do the work for it- and more. And you might not end up with the grade you want even if you work hard.

Work hard, have fun, relax.

Swag.

Back In the Swing of Things...Not Yet

Even though I had nothing to lose sleep over or no reason to wake up early, I tossed and turned last night until I could finally wake up and take a shower. I ache all over. My XL lofted twin in Maple has nothing on my King pillow-top at home.

So here I write, midnight Friday, and pretty tired from the week that was the first back.

I have all new classes, with a bunch of new people. Highlights: I love all my professors so far, and the times at which my classes take place are the best they can be. Even though I think two classes will be a challenge (Physics and Calc II), the other two seem like they will be fun and easy (Nature & Human Values and Intro to CompSci). Of course, they assigned homework already, but I finished Physics before I went out and had fun tonight and the other assignments are spaced reasonably.

I'm getting the hang of it. Even though I forgot how to integrate in Physics studio, I'm sure I'll be back in the swing of things by next week.
***
I suppose you can say I enjoy watching football. Root for the hometeam Broncos, even. But I payed no attention to it last semester (actually I didn't pay that much attention to baseball, but that was because the Rockies ceased to play it in July). Weekends are study time, afterall.

So this Tim Tebow guy starts and apparently makes the Broncos win (even though we all know Matt Prater is the MVP of everybody....kidding, kinda....naw). So I continue to study, even though my relatives seem to think that I should watch Tim Tebow as my duty as a former homeschooler and something else. Whatever.

School ends, I go back home, and watch football. Tim "All He Does is Win" Tebow can't throw. Three weeks later, the Broncos eek into the playoffs without winning. The day before I go back to school some miracle happens and the Broncos win. I don't know what to say.

The game is tomorrow. I'm unsure if I'll watch it. I'm pretty sure the Broncos will lose, but most of Tim Tebow's miraculous comebacks have come without me watching and doing school. We'll see.

I should enjoy this concept of playoff football, but I'm just so anxious...to get back in the swing of things.

One Down, 438955793 Weeks to Go

No, I did not just calculate that.
I have survived the first week of college. What, don't they have free t-shirts for that?

It's been crazy-ish, I suppose. Just meeting everyone has been pretty hectic. There's always something going on in campus, and sleeping in is not an option. I have found it impossible to sleep in anyway, having to transition to my fluffy king bed to an XL bed lofted....but that story is probably for another post.

I hate my schedule. I wake up all early, and then eat breakfast if I feel like it. If I don't feel like it, I pack a bag of Craisins or a cereal bar and find somewhere to study. (I don't really like studying in my room-it's kind of depressing, but yet this topic is probably for another post as well.) I then wait until I'm so hungry that I forget about studying and then go eat lunch. Depending on who I sit with/if I sit with anyone, I'll either eat very little very slowly, or eat a lot very quickly. After I go to the next class, and try to stay awake. Classes have been from 1-7 with a couple unnecessary breaks, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I had lab cancelled. I did laundry. But there ya have it. Some nights I do homework, some nights I go play capture the flag barefoot and slip and bruise my kneecap. And that's about it.

My classes are all pretty different from each other, and obviously from high school. Speaking of "obviously", my Calculus I teacher has a European accent, like either Croatia or Russia, or something like that, so that when she says "obviously" you can totally tell. The thing is, what she's teaching is not so obvious, and the kids in the back mutter "what the-" every 30 seconds. Oh, and an interesting fact about Calc: I counted around 37 kids Friday. I counted 3 girls, including myself. They weren't lying when they told you about the ratio. But 8%? I just thought that was interesting, not because I like calculating M:F ratios, but plain ole Calc is boring and I like to do my own nerdy calculations. "I'm good with calculation."

On the topic of accents- the first day of class, I noticed my Chemistry professor had an East Coast accent. I just couldn't pinpoint where. Philly? Bahston? New Yawk? Then after watching explosions and seeing pretty colors of fire, I hear these words:
"If anyone is a Boston sports fan, they get an automatic A."
Oh. My. God. My worst nightmare. I buried my head in my desk. I'm gonna fail, I know it. And he was doing so well with the fire and stuff. Here are my notes from the first two lectures:

Profit.
And that was my first week of college. Yeah!
My other classes are alright. I still haven't really let it sunk in that I'm in class or I wake up in my dorm room in Maple and wonder where the heck I am before I remember I have to get up and....do nothing. (Well for this week, so far.)
Oh, I did engineer a couple stuff today. My team made the 3rd-best windmill. Our car (Coke bottles) did not win.

Now on to studying.