And Now For Spring!

And we’re back!

I had a great spring break. I went home for a few days, caught up with pets, friends, and family, and then went on a trip to Hawaii with my good friend Larry. He was one of the first college friends I ever made, and it was an awesome experience to explore a different part of the world with him.

Now that I’m back, I’m focused on applying the lessons I’ve learned from my first two terms here, even as I take some very different types of classes.

I have a (kind of intimidating) list of primary interests/possible choices of major, but if I had to narrow it down, physics and film would probably be at the top. Fall term, I took Introduction to Multivariable Calculus, and for winter, Astrophysical Systems: Mechanics and Relativity. I’d like to have a better sense of what my future may look like by the time I’m heading into sophomore year, so this term, I’m making sure to take the two introductory film courses as well: Introduction to Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS 110), on the analysis side of the department, and Digital Foundations (CAMS 111), on the production side. Although (at least in my experience so far) physics classes are pretty different from film classes, I think I can pinpoint a few skills I’ve picked up that I can continue to develop over the next ten weeks.

First, time management is going to continue to be a Big Thing. On top of my classes this term, I’ll be working my two jobs, attending extra film screenings and technology labs, and participating in my first PE class — water polo, the team my friend Yax convinced me to join. I’ve never even watched the sport, let alone played it, so that’ll be quite the adventure. In order to keep things running smoothly, I’ll have to be conscious about how I spend my time. That’ll largely mean not getting behind on assignments, and if anything maybe getting ahead on one or two over each weekend.

I’ve also realized how important it is to have a regular sleep schedule. Obviously there are the health benefits, but it’s also nice to get up early enough to have time for an enjoyable breakfast, and so that I’m not stumbling into class still half-asleep. It’s also nice to go to bed with the general population, as opposed to having a good chunk of my day occur when everyone else is asleep and I start feeling like an owl. Accomplishing a regular sleep schedule will also essentially come down to proper time management, and making sure I actually wake up when my alarm goes off. On the occasions where this plan doesn’t pan out, I’ll always have a trusty bottle of Soylent, as introduced to me by my friend Mark over at Caltech, ready in the fridge. This way I can always have a relatively solid (and in Soylent’s case super quick) meal without being late anywhere.

Finally, I’ll be taking the third course on the French track, which should prove challenging. Here, I should be able to apply study habits I picked up over last term’s physics course. I plan to do the reading on whatever grammar concepts will be covered in class ahead of time, as well as to regularly study and update my Quizlets. I’ll also try to get a study streak going on Duolingo — a pretty awesome (and free?!) service I recommend checking out for anyone trying to learn a language.

We’ll see how that goes. Time to explore Spring Carleton!