After the stress of shopping period, it had been a pretty quiet semester. I felt like I had settled into the rhythm of college, and I was not trying anything new. Maybe that meant that I had more time to delve deeper into the things I cared about.
Courses
Unlike previous semesters, I wasn't sure about my schedule at all. Reflecting back on my decisions in the past, there were usually very shallow reasons for taking or not taking a course. I would take course A because my friend was taking it or I would reject course B because it was held in a dusty classroom. Well, this was even more true this semester. All I learned to do was ruthlessly prune classes that I wasn't enjoying at the start of shopping period.
I ended up taking 4.5 courses this semester:
- CSCI 1670/1690: Operating Systems with Lab
- CSCI 1515: Cryptography
- ENGN 0520: Circuits and Signals
- EGYT 1320: Middle Egyptian II
CSCI 1515, ENGN 0520, and EGYT 1320 lectures were excellent, and I could wholeheartedly recommend taking a course with these professors. I was quite busy during the week, so I had to reserve Saturdays for operating systems, or else it wouldn't get done.
My ongoing evaluation is on the courses page.
CSCI 0300 TA
I loved TAing for CSCI 0300 ("Fundamentals of Computer Systems"). I want to write about it someday, but I think TAing was one of the most fulfilling experiences you can have as an undergraduate at Brown. Highly recommend.
Sunlab Consultant
We cleaned up the Sunlab recently! Found Andy van Dam's (physical) lecture slides inside this projector.
CS DUG
We also brought back the CS Senior Yearbook! If you were a graduating senior at Brown and wanted a yearbook, you could fill out this form here.
Puzzle Club
After the hecticness of last semester, progress on the Puzzle Club site had been fairly steady. Most of the infrastructure was in place, so we were all working on postprodding the puzzles, adding on the art, and improving the performance.
Dance Dance Revolution
My friend shipped his DDR pad to campus, and I bought a projector for it. I wished I had more time to play on it—I used the projector more often to watch lectures.
Concluding Thoughts
It had been a pretty good semester. I hadn't worked too hard or worried too much. I had found time for my courses, my jobs, and puzzle club. I had only dealt with like... 2 days of burnout, and that was for other reasons.
But I wished—at least for next semester—that I had spent more time with my friends, more time developing as a person, and more time outdoors. My doctor said I was deficient in Vitamin D.