Fall 2011

Hey folks, I'm back!

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Here's a quick update on my last semester of college!

I was only taking a couple of classes this semester, but somehow I still managed to keep myself pretty busy. I took Intro to Political Research, which is required for my major, but I put off taking it for the last three years because everyone hates that class. As it usually goes, it wasn't actually too bad. Professor A was initially going to teach it, but then he got offered a better job; then Professor B took over. I've had this professor before and he's way fun. But since he took over after everyone had signed up for the course, he had to keep the same syllabus, textbooks, etc. This didn't actually work out... Long story short, a lot of things were changed and we ended up doing a lot more hands-on work. We did some class research projects about the efficacy of campaign signs in local elections and we had to propose our own research design for our final project. The group I got to work with for the majority of the semester was super fun and we got along really well. I usually loathe group projects, but this goes to show that the group makes all the difference.

The other class I took was on Persuasion in the Speech Communication department. That class was SO much fun! The professor made things really interesting. He was so animated and passionate about the topic that you couldn't help be excited about it, too. He also wrote the textbook for the class, so it was nice that the book and the professor weren't teaching two different things. (It happens more than you think.) Something that was a little weird though was how nice the class was. I'm not used to making friends in my classes. I guess that's just because people in the Political Science department are required to be more opinionated. Unfortunately that also means they're more argumentative, get more defensive, and can come across as kind of rude... Trust me, I've been in that department for the last three years.

To bide my time on days that I didn't have class, and in lieu of a job for the semester, I played the piano at the Skyroom (a restaurant on campus) twice a week. I got a free meal every time I played and I got to keep any tips people gave me. I didn't make oodles of money, but I made more than I thought I would. Plus it was nice to be able to play the piano during the semester. I usually go months without playing since I don't have regular access to a piano.

Well the not-so-crazy semester ended and I GRADUATED. Yes, you read that correctly. After six short semesters of hard work, I now have my Bachelor's degree.

Now all I need to do is find a job...