Updates and Thoughts - 9/11/01

Well, I am now a week into my final year of college. It's sort of scary knowing that I will have to make a definite decision as to where I'm going in the next year, and it doesn't seem possible that my college years are coming to a close. It's something that you know will eventually come up; still, part of me can't conceptualize making the change and taking concrete steps towars a possible future. It's something I know I have to do of course, but making this sort of decision has never been a strong suit of mine.

It's been great being back at school and running into all the familiar faces there. It's weird not seeing some of the people, though; I keep wondering about random people and have to remind myself that they've moved on now. My new dorm room is great; it's HUGE and is right by the front entrance. Unfortunately, there isn't any storage space, so I had to buy a bunch of plastic bins to make up for that. It also doesn't have a built in closet, and the metal closet that the school provides isn't very good, so I'll have to see if I can find a cheap replacement.

Anyway, classes have been interesting so far. I have two maths, two histories, and a fith class that is yet to be determined (I'll have more about that later). The two math classes are Intro to Real Analysis, which deals with proofs and that sort of mathematical thinking, and Chaotic Dynamical Systems, which is something like my Differential Equations class from last spring and deals with systems in which outcomes are not easily predictable and can vary greatly with a minor change in initial conditions. The history classes are the Thesis class, which is pretty self-explanitory, and a class in 20th century Russia over at Haverford.

In regards to the fifth class, I had preregistered for and am hoping to take an Intro to Film course; however, I have been wait listed for the class. This seems really unfair to me, since there are frosh (aka freshmen) who are able to take this course and I won't get another chance to take the class. I've gone to the registrar's office; apparently, while I did preregister for the class, there was an error and I didn't get on the master list, and the teacher wasn't granting lottery preference for seniors who weren't English or Art History majors. I'm going to sit in the class and hope that people drop out; at least my name is third on the wait list, so it's not hopeless. And I will try to talk to the teacher, though there's only so much I can do, since I can't afford to make a bad first impression if I do end up getting in the class. If that doesn't work out, I can always take Chorale for credit and use it as my fifth course. I have always enjoyed singing in Chorale (though I've never done it for credit) and I wouldn't get the chance to be in Chorale if I took the Intro to Film class, as screenings coincide with rehearsals. However, I would much rather take the film course, since I've already done Chorale and I'd rather have the new experience. Plus, I could only get a half credit for Chorale, and it wouldn't mean anything unless I took another half-credit class next semester. I am just incredibly frustrated by this whole ordeal; one of the advantages of a small liberal arts school like Bryn Mawr is that you're not supposed to run into these sorts of problems, and not being able to take a class I was really looking forward to in my last year just seems unfair.

Note: Enough people dropped out, so I am able to take the class after all.

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