Checksum Arcanius

Yeah.

Winter quarter of the junior year is supposed to be the most intense of the Bioengineering core. In addition, they are forcing rotating groups this quarter, so instead of being able to rely on tried and true partners, I “get” to try out new partners each week. I’ve had good luck so far — after all, most BioE kids are overachievers — but I know there are a few bad apples out there. Next week alone is looking like sheer death. Two large problem sets, two lab reports, and a midterm (already!).

On top of this, I managed, out of sheer luck, to sign up for two of the most work-intensive CSE classes around — Operating Systems (land of neverending projects) and Software for Embedded Systems (land of neverending labs). Project 0 for OS kept me up all night. Project 1 was two straight days of team coding by three intelligent people. Project 2 is supposed to be the best yet. The first Embedded Systems lab took just 4 hours, the next was 8. I am told that for most of the rest, getting them done in 9 hours is doing very well.

And to top it all off, I am sick. My CSE partner, from whom I presumably contracted the disease, tells me that the worst is yet to come. But hey, its all downhill from here… right?

Saturday was the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff. It broadcasts live from Manchester New Hampshire where it is 10:00, so that means 7:00 here, which means getting up around 5:30. The local kickoff event is hosted by none other than the Titan Robotics Club, with generous support from the FIRSTWA/SRA, and DeVry Univeristy. Red Bull was kind enough to provide refreshments (in the form of Red Bull drinks, of course).

I recently discovered that a fellow CSE student, Helene, was a FIRST alum (from team 192, GRT), so I invited her along. With just a little bit of prodding, she accepted, and we both ended up enjoying ourselves while learning about the new game. Of course, I already had a sneak peak from helping assemble the rack on Friday night.

I had promised to get Helene home early, so I left immediately after the kickoff to take her back to the U-District. Next came soccer practice, at 12:30. Since intramural sports seem to be the only way I can coax myself to exercise regularly, I try to get involved with them every quarter. A big thanks to Scott for organizing it every quarter.

Next, I did some homework while organizing a movie-going expedition with Courtney. Along with Kunlun and Anne, we ended up seeing Children of Men, a wonderfully gritty apocalyptic offering. While the others I was with saw it as depressing, I have a way of seeing these sorts of films as very hopeful. Sure, the surroundings were grim — women are infertile and the whole world is self-destructing — but in the midst of it all, life is finding a way forward. I’d give the film an A, or a 4.5/5.

After the movie, I went over to Ananth’s place to watch the second half of the Seahawks game. Talk about a roller coaster! But the Hawks prevailed, so for now, all is well. Ananth was kind enough to feed me while at his apartment, so I didn’t have to do it myself. I also got a call from Maneesh right after the game, and we were able to go crazy over the phone together. It was a good time. After seeing the Sonics lose yet another game, I headed back home to work on some more homework, before succumbing to sleep fairly early.

Sunday, I woke up surprisingly late, considering how early I had fallen asleep. Most of the day was homework until I ended up at my parent’s for food. After dinner, Jon came over an we all watched the replay of the Boise State-Oklahoma game, which I must agree was the best college football game I have seen in a long time, perhaps ever. It seems that for the last few minutes of the game, and overtime, Boise State had simply run out of normal plays. Everything was a trick. Even my mom was excited. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

After the game, it was back to the homework. With the help of my Dad, I was finally able to quash a bug in some of my code, finishing the first part of an assignment due Wednesday. Of course, I have a lot of stuff due Monday, which I guess is today, as well, so I have to go home now and start on that. So much for a great start to the quarter; of course this is probably the most stuff I’ve had to do on a first week ever. Even the amount of reading is looking improbable. Oh well, this is what I signed up for I guess.

Through diligence last night I was able to get my sleep schedule under control for the start of classes today. The day was a somewhat eventful, though short because of there being no BioEn 305 lab today. On my way to class, my bike betrayed me and sent me sprawling onto the pavement in a most unpleasant way. Bruised and dirtied but otherwise unharmed, I continued on to my first class of the day, my Bioengineering Physiology and Transport lecture.

I already like the teacher more than I ever did last quarter’s physiology teacher. I get the feeling that the material will be less rote memorization and more applied memorization. Sure, memorization is still involved, but at least I feel it it useful in this case. Also, the teacher this quarter seems much more organized, so I think the “need” for surprise extra lectures (that I was unable too attend due to work) will be eliminated. After class, I talked briefly with Alice, waved to Dennis and Christine, and rode off to my next class.

Next came Operating Systems. The class should be interesting and informative, as all CSE classes seem to be. After a one hour break spent in the computer labs with Jason and Felix, I headed to my Software for Embedded Systems class, another one that promises to be interesting and informative, even if I already have some experience in the area. There, I met up with Weija, a friend from several quarters ago with whom I had lost touch. It turns out she spent the last two quarters at an internship with Intel, which explains why I never saw her. To achieve her graduation date, she is signed up for 5 CSE classes this quarter, and a total of 24 credits. I hope she drops at least one, because otherwise I am sure she will suffer in a multiplicity of ways.

I noticed that one of those five classes Weija was signed up for was a class I had been looking into, Software Engineering. Since it fit my schedule, I decided to tag along and see how it was. I was excited to see a lot of my CSE friends in the class, I was also well aware of the fact that taking it would push me to 20 credits, which I feel I could not successfully attempt while still working to any significant degree. Also, I have heard from numerous sources that winter quarter of the junior year is the toughest of the Bioengineering curriculum. So, I reluctantly but wisely decided to avoid adding the additional class. Especially with the Titan Robotics Club ramping up for another FIRST robotics season (despite my lower level of involvement), I am sure that I will have enough to do this quarter.

Currently still waiting on 304, but otherwise, a very good quarter!

Boo-yeah!

Friday night, the term paper was submitted and I was officially DONE with school for the quarter.

Yay.

CSE 378 – I’m gonna be bold and say 4.0
CSE 322 – I think I did well… 3.8
BioEn 302 – Lets be optimistic and say 3.9
Bioen 304 – Lets be honest and say 3.0