rodzik@www

Today was the first day of class for my senior year, and wow was it an awesome day. My final class for my second major in Software Engineering is primarily focused on teaching us to maintain code in C++ and assumes we don't know C++. This will be awesome because I've already got a good amount of jumping into a project (in C++ even) that wasn't mine initially, and on top of that I've been using C/C++ almost extensively since I first learned programming. And my second class is an introductory basic Econ course that looks to be pretty cake. Oh, and they don't meet on Wednesdays. Bumping me up to a full-time senior is senior project, and that's usually only one meeting per week, maybe an extra meeting every other or every third week....so yea, this quarter is going to be totally cake.

Of course, that's my academic load. I've still got the GRE, application essays, fellowship essays, and all that good stuff to worry about. Not to mention I've got a full 10 weeks of work as President, but hey, I need stuff to keep me busy with the amount of free time my course schedule has resulted in. I finally stopped stalling on the GRE and registered for it last night, so I now officially have until 7:30 AM on September 19th to prepare for it. I figured it'd probably be a good idea to get it out of the way before Homecoming...so hopefully I can actually teach myself some vocab in the next 3 weeks.

And finally, COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!! There's been a void in my life since January, and it's finally going to be filled -- partially tonight, but mainly on Saturday when the ACC begins play, meaning that GT also starts. Hopefully GT will completely stomp ND this year, but how Bennett can perform without Calvin Johnson remains to be seen.

So we drove around Rose briefly today. All of the freshmen looked incredibly young...and now I'm a senior in college. It's weird thinking that not long ago I was in their shoes - moving in to box fan central (Speed hall) and beginning an unavoidably life-changing four years. While I knew the time would fly by, I never expected so much of what I've accomplished and everything I've done. As much as I've been missing D.C. (I was missing it before I even left), I'm going to love this year. Now if only it weren't for the GRE...

Why is it that the times I feel most alive are after a nice distance run in the summer weather? I went for a nice run slightly over 5K today and absolutely love the feeling of finishing and dripping in sweat all over the place. It wasn't even all that hot today (about 90 degrees and 40% humidity) but it still felt great.

I'm not really in a typing or story-telling mood right now so I figure I'll just briefly post an update on the last couple of weeks. I've been thinking more and more about grad school, and on Friday I pretty much solidified my choice. I went and talked to my boss' boss about it and she said that while she really wanted me to come back to work in my office, she 100% recommended that I pursue the options I was looking into. She also said I'd be able to come back and intern in her office while I worked on my Masters and then I could work there full-time, so that was excellent to hear. I've been slowly studying for the GRE over the last few weeks, and I'll probably go ahead and completely finalize my decision by beginning the application process at Georgia Tech, registering for the GRE, and telling the intern program manager I plan on returning as an intern instead of a full-time employee.

A couple weekends ago I went up to Jersey to visit Kowski, and while I was there I met/partied with a bunch of his friends. It was a good time, but man Delaware and Jersey are rough when it comes to tolls. I also had the chance to see Live Free or Die Hard (finally), and I thoroughly enjoyed it (and got a good laugh out of their portrayal of science and technology). Friday night Kowski and two of his friends came down to visit and stayed at my place Friday night. Saturday we went to the spy museum (National Cryptological Museum) followed by visiting another friend of his downtown in DC and then playing tourist around the National Mall for a while. This was followed by a party, which for the most part was a good time.

Today I pretty much just sat around and did nothing. I watched 300 again, as I watched it right after I bought it on Tuesday. Next Saturday is the anniversary of the Battle of Thermopylae so I'm thinking that might be a good occassion for a 300 party...we'll see...

Last Saturday I played the most badass game of paintball ever. I left with some injuries (sliding into a bunker at top speed generally doesn't result in an injury-free day...but it did prevent me from getting shot!) but it was a great time.

I also found a couple new federal fellowship programs in addition to the ones I already knew about. While they don't pay as much as the major one I've been thinking about, they don't tie me down to research either (the other program is research-oriented, and I really don't want to have to work in a research lab for the next few years). We'll see....

I guess that wasn't exactly "brief," but oh well, I covered a lot of topics...

P.S. The Bourne Ultimatum is sweet.