Back to Work

           Well, here we are, back again. Hello, everyone!

           Everything has begun settling back into rhythm. It’s amazing, how adaptable the human psyche is. After a few days here, it feels like I never left. I felt the same way when I went back home. I suppose the trick is to stay unaccustomed to and appreciative of the good things, and accustomed to and dismissive of the not-so-good things. I have yet to get the hang of that, though.

Just as a reminder from last semester, classes haven’t started yet. This week is “shopping period,” where you just try out courses. Or at least that’s what they say. In reality, a lot of the classes give homework on the first day of class, homework that’s due before shopping period ends. Still, it’s an excited, bustling time, with everyone rushing from one course to another to sample all the enticing options available. The majority will have at least one or two courses they’re sure of and several others competing for the remaining slots.

Of course, there are always exceptions, mainly those of us who have a lot of requirements to fulfill and have to take certain classes: the engineers, the pre-meds, and etc. And if you’re me, and you want to study abroad, do ROTC, learn two languages, and have a concentration and a secondary field (aka major and minor), then your path is pretty set. And thus I can already tell you what I’ll be taking.

First comes Hebrew. We have homework assigned for tomorrow, but it’s just a reading, and since the class is the same from last semester, it makes sense to go ahead and get down to business. It’s nice having a class in which I know everyone. The instructor is really nice, and I’m looking forward to a new semester with everyone.

I’m also taking a freshmen seminar this semester. Seminars are designed to be more discussion-based, and they also meet only once a week and are pass-fail, so that’s a plus. The one I’m taking is on National Security of Middle Eastern Countries, and I just finished the first session. Because you have to apply for seminars, most of the people who get in end up being in the class, and so we also have homework for that, even though it’s not graded.

Next up is physics. Yep, you guessed it – ROTC requirement. I’m taking a course that places a larger emphasis on computer modeling as opposed to the more traditional courses, which are notoriously difficult; I think the average midterm grade for the traditional physics course (for Harvard students, many of them engineering majors) was a 46. So, not being an engineering major, I opted for this course. We’ll see how it goes. And yes, there’s homework. But only reading.

The other two classes are Expository Writing, or Expos, and ROTC, which will start next week, so more word on that later. At the moment, the workload is very light, but because I came in not quite ready to finish break, and not expecting to have to start working until next week, it’s been a rough adjustment getting back down to work.

Not that I didn’t work over the holidays; I read 12 books, studied Hebrew and Spanish, learned the Arabic alphabet, and worked out. But now I need time management, and I have to deal with unexpected demands on my time, deadlines, and appointments. I lay out my plans for studying, but they keep getting interrupted, even as my to-do list grows. I know; that’s life. It’s just frustrating, and it’s hard to get back into the swing of things, especially when every class I attend manages to come up with something else for me to do.

A cappella is also starting up again; we’ve already had our first leadership meeting with the new staff, and tonight we have our first rehearsal. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again, as much as I would rather get some of these assignments knocked out and then head off to sleep.

Well, such is life. The semester is just starting up, and hopefully I’ll get my momentum going soon enough – we were informed in physics that this is a grossly inaccurate use of the word momentum. Oh, well. It’s not fun looking forward to 16 weeks of unbroken work, but I’ll warm to it once the initial transition is over. After all, this is Harvard. That’s how we roll.

PS - Most of these pictures are from our cruise over Christmas break, so thank you to my parents for taking them! And the others are my to-do list for today, my new (and enormous) physics book, and the new year's calendar. The last one is hard to see: that was taken at around 11:45 pm; that's actually the grassy/leafy area of the yard, but at the moment it's covered in ice, and so it shines in the lamplight. It looks cooler in person; you'll have to trust me on that one.