conquering the world one oxymoron at a time
Archive for life updates
December 20, 2003 at 1:56 pm · Filed under life updates
It’s winter break around here, but I’m still in Charlottesville. The original intention was so that I could stay and do some lab work for my thesis. However, I didn’t prepare the week before by getting cells, etc, and since growing cells to the point of experimentation would alone take a week, there was no point for me to grow them now, only to have to leave town as soon as they got done. So no real lab work for me. It’s really lonely around here with no one around. Paul Bui’s still in town until tomorrow, so we’ve been hanging out. I had a key to Harmon Street, so we went there last night to drink beer. Of course, everyone had gone home. I got so nostalgic about being in that house that I slept there last night instead of coming back here. It was almost the same, except missing a key piece: Ryan.
I’ve been working on graduate school applications all yesterday, but not the key piece: the personal statement. Wow, my life’s full of doing the right thing except that key thing. I’m staying in town to do research, and I’m doing everything but research. I sleep at Harmon thinking it’ll be the same except there’s no Ryan. And now these grad apps; I’ve got everything except the most important part. Maybe I can just go through life with getting the side things done and leave the key pieces to other people with more motivation and responsibility than me.
I saw Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Wednesday night. Ryan drove back into town to go with us. The movie was phenomenal. I won’t go as far as Paul and say that it was life-changing, but it was life-changing. Saying that the movie was entertaining is an insult to the movie. It’s not entertaining; it’s epic. However, it was a long movie, and pretty draining. I wouldn’t go to see it again for a while. This isn’t the Titanic of the 21st century; nobody in their right mind would go and sit through multiple showings of this movie in a short period of time. 3.5 hours is a long long time. But definitely worth my money and worth the time. I can’t wait to buy the extended DVD set with all three movies. I’m such a product of Hollywood. But calling Peter Jackson Hollywood isn’t quite fair either. This movie is beyond Hollywood.
October 21, 2003 at 2:21 am · Filed under life updates
It’s going to be a TOUGH TOUGH week. How is it that we all end up with these jam packed weeks? It’s almost as if professors are clueless about everything else going on in our lives aside from their classes … oh wait, they ARE clueless. Thesis proposals are all due on the same day for all Fourth Years; you’d think that professors would refrain from giving tests during the week of the proposal due date. That would only be too logical.
I’m going back to my system of looking forward to things in order to get myself through the week. I’m looking forward to being in Northern Virginia with Jake and Ryan this Thursday night, finding out more about APT on Friday, seeing Sister Hazel on Friday, and the Colonnade Ball Friday night. Hopefully by then, Ryan and I will both be less stressed with all the work on our shoulders this week and let loose and enjoy ourselves at the dance.
My birthday’s coming up soon. It’s hard to imagine not being underage anymore, not being afraid of showing my ID to get into places, not being shut out from the Patron’s Lounge at these Balls. Now this has been enough of a study break; MUST get back to work.
October 15, 2003 at 5:14 pm · Filed under life updates
It’s yet again been a while. These blogs are being just as neglected as my actual written journals. A lot has happened in these couple months of school that have already passed. This past weekend was Fall Break, actually, something that seemed so very far away in August. I was up in NYC for a job interview and met up with some friends afterwards to just “hang out” in New York. Saw 42nd Street on Broadway — absolutely spectacular!! NYC has always had this sort of mystique in my mind, this magical almost Disneyland-like place full of culture where music rings from the streets and the sidewalks are paved with art. While there certainly is culture in New York, that idealized image I had of New York was sort of shattered this past weekend. It’s so crowded. The busy, bustle-and-hustle lifestyle that I thought I would enjoyed turned out to really annoy me. That many people on a daily basis would absolutely drive me nuts.
Speaking of job interviews; they’re going really well. I’ve gotten 2nd rounds and offers from a couple of Investment Banks, and of course I have the offer from Bain. This is very different for me. I guess this summer was the time when I really came to terms with the fact that I don’t enjoy computer engineering. However, last night Lockheed Martin came to do a recruiting presentation at UVA. I went because Ryan was going, along with a crew of others since Lockheed is where normal real engineers go to work (unlike my type - the cop-out engineer wannabes). Their videos of F-22s, of missiles, of government defense was actually HIGHLY EXCITING. At one point, I leaned over and said to Ryan, “This makes me want to get a Ph.D. in computer engineering,” something I haven’t said since high school.
So basically, I’m living my third decade, about to turn 21 and graduate from college, with no earthly idea of what I want to do. Ain’t that the story of my life. I wish we could go back to elementary school when our husbands, careers, houses, salary were determined by drawing concurrent circles in MASH. Yeah, remember that game? That’s when life was simple.
August 31, 2003 at 12:54 pm · Filed under life updates
It has certainly been a while since my last update. I got that job offer from Bain. My official offer letter arrived about a week ago. Now I have no motivation to go to grad school, except to stay with Ryan. Bain sent me a Tiffany’s keychain along with my offer letter. I’ve never gotten anything from Tiffany’s before.
Classes started this past Wednesday, but for me it was all rather anti-climatic. I have no Wednesday classes this semester. 90% of my conversations on Wednesday went as follows:
enthusiastic person I pass walking by: “So how did classes go today Shan?”
me: “What an interesting question, enthusiastic person!”
My room is pretty settled in; I still have decorating to do, but everything’s in its place. There is still some trash laying around, like a Domino’s Pizza box, but that wasn’t entirely my fault. UVA blocked my laptop’s IP address because of the whole worm fiasco, and as a result I can’t take advantage of the wonderful wireless internet available in my room. *sigh* I GUESS I’ll resort to a physical cables. Ethernet cables are like, SO last year.
July 29, 2003 at 11:08 am · Filed under life updates
Less than two weeks remain until the end. I feel good about work this summer, but not good about studying this summer. GREs are looming closer and closer, and I’m nowhere near ready/prepared. I wish they sold self-discipline somewhere; I’d buy up a whole batch of it. I can’t believe that this weekend’s my last in Atlanta. Valter is supposedly coming into town for his fraternity’s national conference sometime this week. Brewer should be back from California by now. Guru, to the best of my knowledge, is still hanging out at the Carter Center. I’m terrible for keeping in touch with people, but maybe it’ll be a friend-filled weekend.
Speaking of friend-filled weekends, I went to Athens, GA this past weekend to see Amanda and Ryan Rhome at UGA. Amanda was down in ATL a couple of weekends ago (that same weekend that my Ryan and a bunch of govies came), but I haven’t gotten to see Ryan Rhome all summer. Being only an hour and a half away from the both of them, I couldn’t justify not making a trip. Govie get-togethers always brighten my day. I’ve definitely grown out of the place that is the Governor’s School, but never the people.
Work is going well. I got a great performance review last week, and if I keep it up for these last couple of weeks that I’m here, I’m on track to receive a full-time offer by the end of the summer. I’m leaning more and more toward accepting that offer and putting off grad school for a couple of years (deferred entrance). It’ll be interesting to see what all pans out in this upcoming school year, what schools I’ll get into, etc. *sigh* I’m thinking about the future again.
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