Back to School

I'm back on campus today and it feels surprisingly weird. I think this is the point during senior year when you start to transition out of student mode. It happened much earlier in high school, so I was starting to worry it would never happen. I was afraid I would graduate and have to be pulled kicking and screaming off of campus. But being back here after working full time for 3 weeks, and being on vacation for 2 weeks, feels different. I feel just a tiny bit like I don't belong. Like I'm too old. It's a good thing. As long as it doesn't erode my motivation and work ethic.

I've had one class this morning, and it went well. This professor tends to mispronounce things which I'm sure will drive me insane. I heard that this quarter isn't as hard as last quarter. I'm doubting that because the citric acid cycle, and gluconeogenesis, and all that metabolism stuff is on the syllabus. But the good news is that one of our midterms is dropped. That's always encouraging. I'm sure it will be the midterm over metabolism for me.

I also spent this morning running around trying to figure out what I'm going to do about tomorrow. When we got home Friday night, I discovered a jury summons in the giant stack of mail. I'm scheduled to appear tomorrow. I was planning on working in the morning, and then driving to campus for my afternoon class. That class, Chemistry Frontiers, is going to be my hardest class of my college career. The professor is scary, and he gave me my only C so far (notice I wrote "so far"- this could be my second). So I emailed that professor and explained the circumstances. He asked me to come to his office today to discuss our options. In his office, his told me the whole process of being selected and basically told me that the chances of me being selected were very slim. But, I need to be prepared anyways. So if I can't get back to campus by 2pm he will fill me in on Wednesday. It's a very important class since he'll be assigning groups and projects for the entire rest of the quarter. I really don't want to miss it. If I do get selected, he suggested I have a note from the chair of the Chemistry Department. The note would explain that I'm a senior, and I need this class to graduate on time, and it's only offered this time, etc. So I walked over to Dr. Hornback's office and he printed me a note on letterhead and signed it. I also emailed my supervisor at work and told her I couldn't be there tomorrow morning. So I've done everything I can, now I have to leave it up to the government. What a comforting thought.

This afternoon is my first piano lesson in 3 years. I brought my favorite and probably the most difficult piece I've ever learned- Clair de Lune. It's from the Suite Bergamasque by Debussy. Debussy is one of my favorite composers. I'm hoping to learn something similar to that this quarter. I want to focus on musicality. At this point there's not much else I can learn about notes and rhythms and technique. It's all about expression and phrasing. I'm really excited!