New Semester!

It's January. Those of us whose lives revolve around the academic world have started a new semester. Fresh notebooks, new textbooks, unfamiliar faces... the rush that comes along with a new term is always exhilerating to me.



What are your thoughts as you start this new semester?
Are you looking forward (or dreading) to any of the courses?
What do you like or dislike about the first day of a new class?

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What are your thoughts as you start this new semester?
I'm excited. I love a fresh new start. . There's a buzz in the air, a fresh breeze of anticipation running through the building. The smell of crisp paper - everything seems new. Every semester marks a baptism of the academic world. If you didn't do well last semester, you have a new chance to prove yourself, a fresh page to write on, a new set of faces that are expecting you to succeed. There aren't any new graduate students starting in our department this semester, but there are still a number of people that I get to interact with that I haven't met. Then there's the people who I have seen in the halls who now get to see a different side of me.

Are you looking forward (or dreading) to any of the courses?
Actually, I'm pretty excited about the course I'm taking this time around. Yes, I said "course". That's one thing I like about this graduate school program - I can take only one course at a time, and focus the rest of my energy on research. It takes longer to get through all the courses, but the same amount of time to complete the program. With this format I really do pick up more along the way, and feel better prepared to teach the courses myself. The class this time around is advanced molecular biology. It's a discussion-based one, where we read current literature and come to class prepared to tear it apart in small groups. There are also two exams, a class presentation, and a grant proposal due at some point in the semester. I'm most looking forward to the grant proposal, since it has to be on a topic completely separate from my established area of research.

What do you like or dislike about the first day of a new class?
Like: fresh faces, excitement of the professors, learning expectations.
Dislike: short non-lecture format where the professors read the syllabus and ask the students to get to know one another in some way or another. Seems much more efficient to just dive into the material - that is what I'm here for, afterall.

 

We are on the quarter system here, so for me it is the beginning of a new quarter. I am taking 15 credits: 3 credits of film studies, 4 in Middle Eastern literature, 4 in Ancient Near East history, and 4 in what's called Reasoning and Writing. Two of the courses are online and two are in the classroom. It should be a good term, although it is a lot to cram into 10 weeks.

I think the first day of class is pretty much bs. I hate having the syllabus read to me. I can do that on my own.

 

As to my favorite part of the start of the term: I love writing everything in my planner and making sure I'm organized. I draw up to do lists for every week of the term. I'm a little crazy about it.