Katie Luper

Well, I survived the first 3 weeks (really 2.5, I’m re-learning precision and accuracy, I can’t be going all willy-nilly on the blog). So far things are trucking along and I’m really, really enjoying it. I have a few complaints, but they are tragically minor. Complaint #1: There is no vending machine in the two buildings where I spend most of my time. At least once a week I forget my water bottle and then get all crazy parched and have to venture over a building to get a bottle of water. On the upside? All 20 oz. beverages are $1.00. That’s pretty cheap in my experience. Complaint #2: The wifi is sketchy in one of my classrooms. On the upside? I shouldn’t really be on the internet anyway so it forces me to study.

So the good things?

1. I found an awesome study area. It’s the “Engineering and Computer Science Reading Room” but all it seems to have in terms of “reading” is outdated journals from the 90’s. Weird. There’s also this older woman who looks like the slug from Monsters, Inc who seems to do nothing but shush people in this room. Whatever, it keeps things quiet.

2. My hardest assignments of the week by a mile are my math homework and quizzes. I was super worried about the math quizzes because the class is hard but then I found out something wonderful. She gives us the question for the quiz during the previous class. Now the question is usually something fairly involved. This week we have to prove that e^(i*theta)=cos(theta)+i*sin(theta) and that abs(e^(i*theta))=1. Both of those proofs are a little bit involved so we still have to study and redo the questions a few times to get them to “stick.”

3. I’m attempting to get involved with a few organizations (IEEE and Society of Women Engineers) but they have meetings at 8:30pm. Uhhh, what? I go to bed at 9. I don’t live on campus. How is this going to work? I’m not sure it will. Hmm, that’s not a good thing, that’s another complaint. Oops!

Well, off to my work!

So yesterday was the first day of school. I was so worn out by the time I got home, I crashed hard really, really early so this post is coming a day late. I feel like I learned many things about myself on this first day. So to begin:

1. I’m not 18 anymore.

I’m not so old that I can’t remember back to my first day of undergrad. I remember being so excited but scared. I remember that first taste of freedom from your parents along with not having to worry too much about “grown-up problems.” But yesterday, I really felt my age and I can conclude that I’m not 18 anymore. Yesterday I had my two “intro” classes where it can be assumed that you’re a freshman or a transfer and so I get why people would ask the sort of questions that they did. Where are you from? Uhh, Dallas. I forgot that people would come from different places. To me, Katie School of Engineering was the default choice because of location. Where did you go to high school? and/or Where did you transfer from? Oh, Lordy! Now I had to start doing some explaining. My “quick” explanation that I have a B.S. in Biochemistry and a J.D. already and I’m going back to pursue a new field was met with the blankest stares imaginable. With one person, I tried going into more detail but they seemed more confused the more I explained. Maybe this will go better today. I’m going to work on my “canned answer.”

2. I’m not here for the “college experience.”

A group of girls after my programming class were going to go “walk around the campus” and see if they can find some free pizza. They graciously invited the old lady in the group (ME). I could think of about a hundred reasons why I didn’t want to go. It was 110 degrees outside. I had carefully scheduled in a workout after class before driving home to let my dog out/take a shower/change clothes/make a healthy lunch. I need pizza like I need a heart attack. I wasn’t really stoked to see what the student union had to offer. (See above where I discuss that I’m not 18 anymore) So I politely declined, made a beeline to the gym, sweated my brains out for a short but intense workout and was on my way. I promise that I’ll try to make friends, but I have these other responsibilities that many of my classmates just don’t have.

3. I know how to succeed in college.

One of my classes is an intro to engineering course. It’s required so there I am. The classes a little later in the semester look really interesting, and we get to hear from the Dean of the engineering school often. I’m excited about that. However, the first 6 class meetings should be titled, “how not to fail out of the school of engineering or quit.” Yes, my math is rusty. Yes, I haven’t done physics in a while. Yes, I’ve never engineered anything. BUT, I know how to study. I know how to take notes. I know to condense and copy those notes to cement them in my memory. In one class, we were told to take notes and I’d say about half of the class actually did. We have to turn in our notes. What on earth do the kids who didn’t take notes plan to turn in? Why would you not just take the darn notes if you’re told to? I had so many questions that I couldn’t answer for other people but I know what I’ll be doing. I might not get an A+ in everything, but I’ll know that I tried my hardest in every possible way.

4. I’m a terrible dresser and I still out-dressed 90% of my classmates.

Since it’s confession time, here it is. I’m not the best dresser. I used to care a lot more about it but then I got married and five years later, here I am. I’m lucky to be out of workout clothes and pajamas. However, engineers have the worst fashion sense that I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t help that most of my classes are about 90% male but it’s just awful. I want to take all these awkward kids under my wing and teach them about properly tailored jeans that have the correct rise. I want to tell them that Star Trek/Star Wars/Simpsons/Family Guy t-shirts are not okay. They will never be okay. However it is not my place. So I will try and get pictures for my blog audience. ‘Cause it’s funny.

Well that about sums up the first day. Here’s to day two!