Well, school has begun…

It’s a little weird walking around campus now since I haven’t in so long. And buying books was a shock to my wallet, heh. But as for my classes….

CS 380, Theory of Computation - This is going to be without a doubt my hardest class. It’s building on Math 300 (remember that disaster?) and CS 311, which wasn’t too bad. Basically a lot of math theory relating to computer science. And something about Turing machines.

CS 365, Programming Languages and Systems - This one doesn’t seem like it will be too hard, but it’s not going to be a breeze either. We’re going to be doing a lot of Java programming, which I really have no clue about (still). The professor seems pretty cool, though, even if he did point out to the entire class that I was the only female in there, heh.

CS 494, Computer and Network Security - This is definitely going to be my favorite class. Seems more interesting than challenging. Just wish it wasn’t three hours long one day a week.

More Sim updates later, but for now…

I guess I should start thinking about next semester. I need to go by the financial aid office and see what I can do about paying for it. I got some grants and loans and stuff for this year, but I never got around to really accepting them or anything, so I don’t know what I have.

I’m getting an advising appointment set up for next week sometime, since I can’t really remember which classes I need in order to graduate. I can’t remember if I’ve finished all the classes for my English minor or not. I think I have like 18 or 21 hours left. Not too bad. So here’s what I’m thinking:

Spring 2005: CS 365, CS 380, CS 494
Summer 2005: MS 202
Fall 2005: CS 340 or CS 370, CS 494 (another one), and possible an English class if I need it

My tentative schedule for next semester is:
CS 365 - TR - 9:40-10:55 - Berry (shouldn’t be as bad as it was last spring, different prof)
CS 380 - MWF - 9:05-9:55 - Thomason (reviews for this prof looked decent, I know this is a hard class, a lot of math-type stuff)
CS 494 - W - 3:40-6:20 - Dunigan (this class is on security, looks kinda cool, again the reviews looked good, minimal programming)

Then I’m just going to work after I get out of class, part time. I need a money tree.

I went and looked at the apartments across the street on Monday. I can get a nice-sized 2-bedroom for barely more than I’m paying now for my tiny 1-bedroom. I’m talking like 200-300 more square feet. That will be nice. They don’t have any free right now, but I’m supposed to check back in a couple weeks. I also need to talk to my current landlord about what would happen if I broke my lease.

Hmm….CS365 test was okay.

There were a few that I was a little iffy on, and a couple that I really had no clue, but overall, not terribly bad. I think I have a CS311 test on Thursday.

Still trying to finalize my spring break plans. I think I will be in Clarksville till Wednesday or so, then I’m going to head up to Indiana for a few days.

Anyway, I don’t really have a lot to write about, despite the fact that I wore my “I’m blogging this.” shirt today.

Ugh, I hate school.

494 is kicking my butt. I got so behind last week when I was sick, and now I’m just thinking about dropping the class. My second program is late, and I have no hopes of figuring out where I’ve gone wrong. My first program didn’t get that great of a grade. And this class has a grade that is only based on the five or so programs that we will be doing. And it definitely does not help that the class is done over video and the prof is in Nashville. I can’t really just go talk to him whenever I want (and if I do, I get 25% of my lab grade taken off). Yeah, it’s not going well.

On top of that, I am supposed to be graduating in the fall. So I would have to take another CS class next fall in order to do that. That’s four CS classes. I may just go part time in the fall and the spring and extend this another semester. I won’t have my scholarship to worry about, so part time is all I will need to do to keep my grants.

I don’t know. I don’t feel like I am learning anything that will ever be useful to me. I thought my nightmare class this semester was going to be 311 (since I hated math 300 so much), but that is the only class I can get up and drag myself to and not want to fall asleep in. Why do I go through this every semester?

Back to the grind…

Had a quiz and a test today. Didn’t get much studying done for either of them, since I ended up having plans last night. I’m thinking maybe low Bs/high Cs on both. I know I could have done better, but studying is so boring. Really, someone pass the motivation!

I have my second lab due in 494 on Thursday. I am not letting myself do anything until it is finished. Starting tomorrow. Tonight I am relaxing.

Also, as soon as I find some motivation, I am going to design a nice front page for this site and then do my blog up to match it. I just gotta come up with something. Maybe I need to dig out the ol’ PHP book and do something cool. Hmm…

My neck is killing me. I think I must have been sleeping wrong the past two nights or something. I can barely move my head. Ouch.

So it’s Tuesday. One more day down.

494 lab doesn’t look too bad. Just adding on to the last one and generating SQL statements. Will start on that tomorrow, probably. Part one of my 365 lab is due on the 26th. Will start on that…eventually. I perhaps need to flip through “XML in a Nutshell” before doing that one.

I finally got some quarters, so I can do laundry. I haven’t done laundry in–well, you don’t want to know. Tomorrow I need to run by the post office before I go to work.

I am also still attempting to clean the apartment. It is really slow going. One half of the living room is almost clean. Well, I can see the floor now anyway.

If anyone sees any motivation laying around, will you please pass it on?

Umm..yeah. Wireless is still a no go. No one has a clue.

Bought my medieval studies and CS365 books today. Bye bye $200.

TiVo seems to be enjoying his 100 extra gigs. I now get about 20 episodes of Full House and Saved by the Bell per day.

I can’t wait till this weekend! In addition to the board game party on Friday and the Puddle of Mudd concert on Sunday, I get to go watch my best friend try on wedding dresses as well as look at maid of honor dresses. So that will be exciting!!

I perhaps need to start on my 494 lab before next Wednesday.

Today was the first day back at school.

Blah. It was long. My feet hurt.

I’ve got two math classes back to back in the morning. That’s no fun. Then I get an hour-long break. Then I have my comp sci class, which (so far) is my favorite class (and will probably stay that way…I somehow doubt I’m just going to absolutely love my English class). And, yes, there are more girls. I’m just stupid. Then I have an hour-long break. Then I have medieval studies, which, blah, is just a bunch of reading and writing.

Tomorrow I’ve got that English class and work.

Gotta buy books tomorrow too. Good-bye, money.

So, duh…let me retract my previous statement from 1:30 this morning.

When I looked up the roster, I could only see my section number. Therefore, that’s only like half the class. I just shouldn’t think after midnight; I get confused. So note to all (two) of my readers (hi, mom!): DO NOT READ ANYTHING I TYPE AFTER MIDNIGHT!

Anyway, the big news of the day is: I am a new lab assistant for the CS dept at UT. Woohoo! Doing a bit of training tomorrow and my first day is Thursday.

This week is going to be forever long while I’m waiting for my laptop. I can feel it.

So it’s 1:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep and I have a job interview tomorrow morning.

I better not look like death. Anyway, so to occupy myself I decided to look up my class rosters, since classes start Wednesday. I am the only girl in my CS class. Usually there’s like two or three others, but no. According to the roster, I am the only one. So we’ll see about that in a few days.

Laptop should be here, probably, about Saturday. I’m super excited. I’ve been dreaming of this laptop for like a year now. Okay, so I’ve only been dreaming of this particular laptop for about two months, but still. Here’s a link to pics and specs and stuff. I got the 2.66 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM, 60 gig hard drive, and a DVD-R/RW/CD-RW drive. Then go here and click on “larger notebook image” to see more pics and drool with me! Will take some more pics after I get it.

Well, I had an appointment today to try to see if I could get into that CS class…but I can’t.

So, I guess I’m gonna end up taking another math class this semester. So, that’s two math, one CS, one English, and one other. Blah. That means there is the potential for ending up with a prof I don’t want next semester, plus I will probably be taking three CS classes in the spring too.

Yeah..it’s been awhile…

Today I figured out that I was going to be taking more hours than I really needed to this semester, so I dropped one of my English classes. For some reason, I had it in my head that I need to take 18 hours every semester just to graduate in Fall 2004. But I don’t. I don’t even need to take 18 hours ONE semester to graduate in Fall 2004. Dunno what I was thinking.

Anyway, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to take one of the CS classes that I need this semester. Because I withdrew from a math class last year that is a prerequisite for it…and I am going to take that again this semester, but since it’s a prereq, I don’t know if I can take the CS class. If that makes any sense. I hope I can. I really want the prof who is teaching it this fall.

It stormed last night. I went for a walk in it. It was great. I love storms.

Welcome to my blog! I got bored…

Let me introduce myself. My name is Jessica. I’m 21 and a senior at UT Knoxville. I am majoring in Computer Science and minoring in English (such a weird combo, I know). I’m into computers, reading, and music. That’s about all I do.

Not much has been going on in my life. I wrecked my car and had to get an entire new side put on. Then someone broke into it and stole all my CDs and my CD player. My cat died at age 10. I’ve lost all my friends. You know, the usual.

The crappy thing about having all my CDs stolen is that now I have all these empty cases. And you can’t just go somewhere and buy just the CD. No, you have to pay $5 for a used CD with case and booklet, when all you need is the CD. The other crappy thing is I just got the new Jewel CD that came out less than a month ago and got to listen to it, oh, about 5 times before they took it.

I am thankful that they didn’t see my Revis CD that was not really hidden. Of course, I still don’t have a CD player in my car anymore. So I’m stuck listening to the radio and all the crap it plays. But I’m not bitter.

School starts in less than two months. Not looking forward to that. I have a nice 18 hour load again this semester, complete with two Comp Sci classes, two English classes, and two classes that I wish I didn’t have to take. If I am still alive in December, then I think I could live through anything.

BTW, I’ve tested this blog on several browsers, but can’t get it to look right on Konqueror (grr…), so use Mozilla or Netscape or IE or something if you want it to look right.