Finally Feeling Like Fall
As the title says, it's beginning to feel a lot more like fall. The leaves are finally turning different shades of red and brown, and are falling everywhere. Davis tends to have super hot summers, and they start really early in the springtime and seem to go on well in October. But the weather just took a sudden turn this past week, and the winds are getting so strong that it's almost impossible to walk without getting some dust in your eyes.
It's also hard to believe that we're halfway into the quarter already. I say this every quarter every year, because no matter how many times I've experienced it, I never get used to it.
In the meantime, my workload hasn't been too heavy. I'm only taking 12 units this quarter since I am already in my final year and am trying to recover from the brutal summer sessions. That said, the classes I'm taking are still incredibly challenging. I'm currently doing a class on Statistical Computing, and while the things we're doing are REALLY COOL, they are very time consuming and frustrating, especially since the deadlines are too close. However, I still feel pumped because this course is by far the most interesting and probably the most applicable one out of the all my core classes. For example, right now we're working on creating functions to perform the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm in R. The idea is that given we have 5000 images of digits from 0-9 that were taken from the handwriting of random people who sent mail, how can we use these images to find a pattern in the way people write their numbers so that we can just have the computer scan an addressed envelop and identify the zip codes correctly? Yup, some pretty cool stuff.
Oh, we're also entering college application season so you can bet that Diane and Rena have been pestering me to review their personal statements. *grumble* Which reminds me, I have my own statement of purpose I'd need to write for my own graduate studies. I am still struggling with the thought of whether or not I'll survive the masters program, and whether or not it's worth the time/effort/money. Sometimes I wish I believed in myself the same way others seem to believe in me. Then again, it's always easy to believe in another person's ability because you really wouldn't have to do anything on their part. Even if I can make it through the program, I just know it's going to take a LOT of hard work and probably miserable sleepless nights. I wonder what keeps people going for them to put themselves into such situations. *contemplating*
Ok, break time is over. Time to get some essay reviews out of the way. Look at me being so productive. Let's hope that this lasts till the end of the quarter at the very least.
It's also hard to believe that we're halfway into the quarter already. I say this every quarter every year, because no matter how many times I've experienced it, I never get used to it.
In the meantime, my workload hasn't been too heavy. I'm only taking 12 units this quarter since I am already in my final year and am trying to recover from the brutal summer sessions. That said, the classes I'm taking are still incredibly challenging. I'm currently doing a class on Statistical Computing, and while the things we're doing are REALLY COOL, they are very time consuming and frustrating, especially since the deadlines are too close. However, I still feel pumped because this course is by far the most interesting and probably the most applicable one out of the all my core classes. For example, right now we're working on creating functions to perform the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm in R. The idea is that given we have 5000 images of digits from 0-9 that were taken from the handwriting of random people who sent mail, how can we use these images to find a pattern in the way people write their numbers so that we can just have the computer scan an addressed envelop and identify the zip codes correctly? Yup, some pretty cool stuff.
Oh, we're also entering college application season so you can bet that Diane and Rena have been pestering me to review their personal statements. *grumble* Which reminds me, I have my own statement of purpose I'd need to write for my own graduate studies. I am still struggling with the thought of whether or not I'll survive the masters program, and whether or not it's worth the time/effort/money. Sometimes I wish I believed in myself the same way others seem to believe in me. Then again, it's always easy to believe in another person's ability because you really wouldn't have to do anything on their part. Even if I can make it through the program, I just know it's going to take a LOT of hard work and probably miserable sleepless nights. I wonder what keeps people going for them to put themselves into such situations. *contemplating*
Ok, break time is over. Time to get some essay reviews out of the way. Look at me being so productive. Let's hope that this lasts till the end of the quarter at the very least.
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