Third Down, Five to Go

It’s third down, five to go. Do you
a) Try and run the ball. It’s only five yards and you might be able to get the ball through.
b) Attempt a pass. Again, since it’s only five yards you just need a short pass.
c) Give up and punt.
d) Change the unit of measurement to semesters and transition into talking about college.

Answer: d. I have survived yet another semester at Cornell. Not that I had much say in it, but here’s what I thought of the classes I was told to take this semester.

Honors Physical Chemistry I: Mainly, I enjoyed complaining about Mathematica and the Schrodinger equation. Other than that, it was interesting to approach chemistry from a more mathematical standpoint. We modeled chemical bonds as harmonic oscillators, discovered that orbitals are a lie, and complained some more about Mathematica.

Mass and Energy Balances: I didn’t want to dislike this class. I don’t think anybody goes into a class wanting to hate it. Though I didn't end up hating this class, I didn't love it either. I’d seen a lot of the material in Intro to ChemE last fall, but I didn’t mind that. Without going into too much detail, the class wasn’t structured in a way that let people learn and figure things out for themselves. Other than that, the material was interesting, and I thought the homework problems and projects were good. [Minus the due dates for the projects. The first project was due the morning after a p-chem prelim. The second project was scheduled such that my group ended up working on it for seven hours straight on a weekend. The final project was due during study break. By the time we thought to question whether that was even allowed, we’d been working for five or six hours and were “almost done.”]

Linear Algebra for Engineers: Out of the three math courses I’ve taken, I think this was the easiest. Part of it was due to the professor; he allowed prelim corrections and his prelims were very straightforward. It turns out that linear algebra and p-chem share a fair amount in common, to the dismay of the chemical engineers. Once was enough.

History of Science in Europe I: As it turns out, my liberal studies class required me to both read a lot and write essays. But I stuck with it because it fit in my schedule and I was actually interested in the topic. The class provided background information for how modern science (all the things I use in my other classes) developed. More work than I expected/was looking for in a liberal studies class, but I consider it worth it in the end. Though I don’t think I’ll be taking History of Science in Europe II. My excuse: it doesn't fit in my schedule.

Day Hiking: After nine years of mostly suffering through public school physical education, I can say that PE in college is much, much better. I took hiking just to get off campus once a week and tramp through mud, get bitten by bugs, and scratched by branches.