Fa la blah blah blah

Sweet baby Jesus, I'm done. This. semester. is. over.

That is, until I get my grades in the mail and wince. Followed by a good deal of grimacing.

So, lessons learned? Here's what I discovered about myself and life from this past fall semester:

- I am only as good as the author of my textbooks. Seriously, if my books suck, chances are I'll suck at the subject matter as well. On that note - I'm a genius when I read John Anderson. That man is God's gift to aerodynamics.
- I am either severely distracted, extremely lazy, or a combination of the two. My grades will probably be a testament to that.
- I might actually enjoy designing airplanes...as long as I don't have to do it in Excel. Ever again.
- When professors say "It only took me 15 minutes to write up the solution, so you shouldn't need more than 30," it actually means: "I made up the answers and it took me 15 minutes to write them out. If anyone hands in this exam before 2 hours, I'll give them a lollipop. But not really."
- I am going to miss band LIKE NO OTHER. It only took me 4 years as a member of the Mighty Sound of Maryland to realize that you won't find the kind of friends you had in the band for the rest of your life. I just hope that I can keep the ones I have even after we've all moved apart.
- The classes they make you take for undergraduate aerospace engineering do NOT make you want to be an aerospace engineer. This is quite unfortunate, given that I can appreciate how interesting the subject can be if I'm not attempting to finish homework assignments for it at 4 in the morning.
- I have a pretty terrible singing voice. Unfortunately for everyone else, I love to sing.
- As much as I love Matlab, I despise programming. The simple stuff is all well and grand, but building a program that takes in a jumble of satellite position and timing data to calculate its inertial frame and use a numerical solver to predict its path is not my idea of a good time. Given this fact, I am fairly certain I do not want to be an orbital engineer.
- I wish I could major in general engineering science. Science and engineering have become so specialized that it's impossible to become a general thinker - and this saddens me - because I enjoy learning about everything in life, not just the geometry of jet engine compressor blades. AND WORKING WITH THAT IS SOMEONE'S JOB.

So what have I learned this semester? Nothing useful, but I have created a list of things I would like to learn or accomplish in the future, and hopefully 2009 will be the year to start:

1. Learn to speak french, fluently (obviously, this will take more than a year)
   
2. Learn to break dance and hip-hop dance
3. Learn how to do a standing back-flip
4. Discover my true calling in life. Probably the easiest thing to accomplish on this list
5. Produce 1 major piece of artwork per month. It's time to put that high school studio art to good use.

The list goes on with the little this-and-that's of daily life, and hopefully I'll make the changes necessary to accomplish them.

Anywho, hopefully everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Even if you're not religious, you can still use the time to enjoy the company of the ones you care about. The time you have on this earth is precious and fleeting, so make it unforgettable.

Cheers!

And then the brave warrior returned to his castle...

So, uh, hi there. I'm back!

*cough*

After what has probably been a deeply depressing and dishearteningly dreary time for you all, I have returned! Although I'll probably end up disappearing for another 2-3 weeks as I wrap up the semester...or I'll do what I usually do - blogging when I should be doing work.

Life has been chaotic as usual. Band is almost wrapping down - we had auditions to fill my spot as drum major this past Wednesday, which was both an interesting and melancholy affair (at least on my part). I did perk up a bit when I noticed I had started the trend of flipping over people during auditions. I'm tellin ya *wink wink nudge nudge*, that'll getcha in fer sher.

Any time that may have been freed up by lack of band is now completely filled (and overflowing) with grad school applications and final projects. My senioritis has been KILLING me, and I just want to get this damn semester over with so I can mope about not being an undergrad for much longer in peace. I mean, come on Aircraft Design! Do I really have to design a UAV? Like, right now? Maybe later-ish?

..or never-ish?

If you also happen to be grinding your teeth at the moment, let me share a little conversation I overheard with you. Upon reading, you'll probably realize that your life is nowhere near the hell that these kids are going through....

GIRL: I think I stayed up until 2 or something to finish my paper. I almost had to sleep through my 10am this morning!
BOY: Well just think, we've still got 3 exams to get through.
GIRL: And 2 of them are back-to-back, Thursday and Friday! I mean, like, wtf?
BOY: What'd he say in class today?
GIRL: I think we can use our notes. But, I mean, even if I'm going out Thursday night for *SOMEGIRL*'s birthday, I still have to study for a couple hours.
BOY: When are you all going out?
GIRL: I think we leave for the metro at 9. You know what, I'll just study for like, 45 minutes. I got a 73 on the midterm by doing that.
BOY: HA, I got a 78!
GIRL: Yeah, well, you brought your notes! And you didn't even share with me!!!
BOY: That's what you get for being such a dumb b****, ahaha! Nah though, you wanna start studying tonight for Monday?
GIRL: Nah, I'm goin out tonight. I think we're rollin into Cstone after pregaming at *SOMEOTHERGIRL*'s place. You in?
BOY: Ahh yeeeah. We can study Monday morning or somethin.


And that's when I shot them both in the back of the head.

The end!