Back from the Dead

I'd be willing to bet that it's going to take months for anyone to notice this post-- after all, my last one was in September, and if you're still checking my blog regularly then wow! I would love to have your sense of eternal optimism in life.

Anyhow, I'm finding myself with a bit of free time as well as family who claim they love hearing from me (really? why?) so I've made a resolution to blog once a week. At first I was hesitant, figuring that I likely wouldn't have anything interesting to mention that frequently, but I have come to the conclusion that if I can live an entire week and have absolutely nothing to say about it, maybe I should reconsider my life choices.

So... let me set the stage for this semester.

I am taking a full courseload, 19 credits, and so far I love all of my classes! My full-credit classes are all STEM-based this year: thermal physics, medical physics, linear algebra, and object-oriented programming (we're learning C++). For one credit each, I am taking a prep course for the physics GRE as well as continuing organ lessons and research.

I'm still working 10-15 hours a week for the physics department, although my duties have changed somewhat since the departmental assistance retired last semester-- I'm spending a lot more time in the office, taking calls and ordering supplies. Fortunately I still get to TA the astronomy lab and organize the observatory open houses. Last weekend, a hundred people came to the open house, including President Troutt!

I am still very active in SPS, and was excited to find out a few weeks ago that another of the grants I've written was accepted! I was asked to write an article about it for the Rhodes website, so it's got all the details are here. Now that the funding has come through I'm working on planning the actual event for the end of March.

That's about all that's going on so far, aside from all the applications to summer internships and research opportunities that I've been applying to! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on how those go....

Peace out, ya'll.