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!