Sarah

Not quite spring weather, huh? Hey Hawkeyes! In case you don’t know, it’s really cold here.

By cold I mean like 2 degrees. At least that was the temperature on the first day of class. It was so nice before we left for break. Well, actually it was kinda cold then too, but not like this. Then it was just windy cold, now it’s just cold. Perfect for the first day of class.

Oh! You want to know about my first day of the new semester? Well, how about I tell you about coming back to campus after break first. To begin with, I way over-packed. At least that’s what I thought when I was carrying everything into the dorm (or more my family and I, thanks to my family for the help). And I had the same thought when I was unpacking everything. We’ll see how I feel as the weeks go by. I’m not sure if it just felt like more because my winter clothes are bulkier than the clothes I took back from the fall semester. The most awesome part of moving back in was seeing all my friends. I wasn’t able to see any of my college friends over break, so a lot of the free time I’ve had has been spent catching up with everyone. It’s been so amazing getting back with everyone. I came back Sunday evening so I had all of Monday to organize, unpack, and hang out with friends. Result: A lot of good laughs, hugs, and smiles.

Then Tuesday began classes. My first class was 11:00 so I had plenty of time to get up, get ready, organize my desk, and go to breakfast with friends before going to find my class. Some of the buildings are a little confusing with different doors, floors that don’t connect, and stairways that don’t go all through the floors. So I left for all my classes early so I could find the right room. I had 4 classes today and they all went very well. I’m excited about a couple of them, and in the words of my honors primetime professor, cautiously optimistic about a couple others. My professors/TA’s all seem pretty interesting and eager to help. The semester is off to a pretty good start. Let’s hope it continues for the rest of the week. I’ll try to blog after my second day of class too.

Talk to you later! Stay warm!

Hey Hawkeyes!

I’m so sorry I haven’t blogged in a month! The weeks after Thanksgiving were a whirlwind. I’ll try to go through each of the weeks and update on what’s coming this next semester.

So November 27th was my registration day and 9:20am was my time. I was at my computer at 9:15am and at 9:18 I was hitting refresh every 30 seconds. I had spent my break planning the ideal (or close to it) schedule. Some of the classes that I needed to get that schedule were starting to fill up so I knew I had to register for those classes first. I am happy to say that I am now registered for all my classes. Well, almost all. One of the classes I was really looking forward to taking was restricted to a different major. I couldn’t register for it. However, the course description said that I could contact the instructor. Moment of hope! I emailed the instructor. After a week of no response, I am left with talking to the professor on the first day of class. I’m really hoping it works out.

December 3rd was the University Band concert. A couple of my high school friends came to watch, which was awesome. It was cool to have my high school friends meet my new college friends. It was also fun to finally perform the songs we’d been working on. It was sad saying goodbye to some of my band friends though. If I get into the class I mentioned earlier I won’t be able to do band next semester. I’ll definitely miss it. It was a nice escape from science and math.

The following Friday, the prototype for Engineering Problem Solving 1 was due. In my last blog I mentioned the Zero Energy Loss Homeless Shelter project. We had to make a scale model and test it under a heat lamp and in front of a fan. We had tested it before and had some issues, but we made improvements and had high hopes. We had insulated our shelter so well that heat couldn’t get in(kinda a big issue). We flipped our ceiling to the floor, made our window bigger(and less insulated), and changed our door from a doggy door to a halfway normal door. Isn’t it pretty? 🙂

Group 11’s homeless shelter the Iowa City Emergency Shelter, ICES for short 🙂

The next week was full of chemistry homework, my last computer program (in MatLab… ew), making a poster for ICES, and math presentations. My engineering group worked for about 10 hours on the poster for the poster presentation. It turned out pretty nice.

My group, Group 11, with our poster. What do you think?

This was our last project together, so the picture of our group that we put on the poster was done ceremoniously. We put tape on the back, put it on the poster and we all put our hands on top of each others and pressed it on. It was by far the dumbest thing I have ever done, but it was actually great team-bonding. I loved this group, we had a ton of fun. I’m really going to miss them.

For math, we had a presentation about applying math to our hobbies or using math in a real world situation. My group chose how math is used in photography. It was fun to research, and it made me realize that I really like photography. I’m thinking about taking some more photography classes. It would be fun to get better at it and have a break from all the science and math of engineering.

On that Friday night, since it was the weekend before finals week and the last weekend my friends were all together, we had a pizza party and played games. While we were hanging out, we looked out the window and it was snowing!

First snow of the year!

So we, of course, had to run outside and stand in it. It was way too warm for it to stick and it melted before it hit the ground. By the time we came in it was more like rain, but it was still exciting. I’m glad it didn’t snow while we were there, a few of my friends may have had a hard time getting home.

That weekend was filled with studying and review sessions led by Teaching Assistants. I also applied to be an RA during that weekend (hoping for the best!).

My finals were 7:30am and 8:30pm Monday and 7:30am Tuesday. It was nice to be done so early, but it didn’t give me much time to study between them. All of my finals went ok. I wished they could have gone better, but I tried my best. All in all my homework grades were pretty much perfect so I knew my overall grade couldn’t be too horrible. It was sad saying goodbye to my friends, especially knowing I wouldn’t see some of them for over a month. When you get used to seeing people every day, it feels weird when you realize you won’t see them at all.

Packing to come home from break was a bit stressful too. I didn’t want to forget anything I might need since the dorm building closes for winter break. I also rearranged my room. I’ll take a picture and post it when I get back. There are some other things I might try with rearranging my room too. We’ll see how the current one works out.

Well, I think I’ll end this ridiculously long post here. I promise not to go an entire month without blogging again. Good bye for now 🙂

Wow! Has it really been two weeks since I last posted?! We’re finally on break and I’m loving it!

The two weeks before break were hectic and stressful. I was counting down the entire time. I could not have been more thrilled to finally hit break. It’s great to be home, but I do miss my friends. It will be great to see everyone again and catch up after we’ve had a week back home. I have a group that typically eats lunch together (did you know you can fit 12 people around a 6 person table?) and since I’ve been home I’ve had pretty quiet lunches.

The weekend before break was the game against Purdue. Since it was right before Veteran’s Day, there was a patriotic focus to this game along with a giant American flag. It was a very cool sight.

Thank you to all those who have served our country!

The student section was very excited about the touchdowns we managed to get.

After a busy week of engineering problem solving (building a prototype of a homeless shelter) along with the impending chemistry exam, we had another study party. We started a few days before the exam and did more practice than re-reading. We drew diagrams and worked through the practice exams. It was nice to study together for a few hours before the exam. It was also a great feeling to walk to the exam with friends, wish each other luck, and part ways.

Study party!

After the exam we celebrated with going out for frozen yogurt, even though it was cold outside. It was a fun stress-reliever after the exam. It was a great last friend thing since we all knew we’d be leaving at different times on Friday. We said our goodbyes and gave hugs that night and planned dinner for when we all get back. As nice as it will be to see everyone, I really do love being home and not thinking about school for a while. However, I will be setting up my schedule for next semester so I can register right away on the 27th. Hopefully I’m lucky and have a good schedule.

Until next time, have a great Thanksgiving!

Hey Hawkeyes!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I know this post is a little late, but it’s been a little busy around here.

A couple weeks ago, WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) had a pumpkin carving event. It was a great way to relax and de-stress. We had apple cider and pumpkin bars. They also had designs printed out that we could trace for those of us who are completely uncreative(ahem, me).

Some girls from my floor getting ready to dig in, or rather cut in 🙂

Carving away

The two girls on the other side of the table from where I am paired up to make Pacman pumpkins. The one in the pink stripes on the right did Pacman while the one in the black on the left did one of the ghosts. It turned out really cute and since they’re roommates, they got to display their pumpkins in their doorway.

One of my friends saw this idea online and thought is was really cute. I think it turned out really well for her. I’m sure it looked very pretty all lit up.

Pumpkin guts and cut out shapes

There was bucket after bucket full of pumpkin seeds and guts. Some of the girls were saving seeds so they could go out to their friends in Mayflower and bake the seeds. We all had a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to the next WiSE event which is next month and will be cookie decorating (yummy!). I’ll make sure I take pictures so you can all see the, hopefully, pretty cookies.

Final Picture: Since we’re not allowed to have candles in the dorms, we were given battery operated candles to put in our pumpkins.

My pumpkin, not too original, but it looked pretty cool with the fake candle in it.

Hey Hawkeyes!

Is anyone else surprised that Thanksgiving break is so close? My roommate and I counted the days until break starts. We were both surprised to find out that there are exactly 14 school days until break. On one hand it’s exciting that we finally get a break, but on the other hand it means that the next round of tests is right around the corner. I have an exam tomorrow night (eek!) and then another one next Tuesday, and one the Thursday after that. And actually, I’m pretty sure I have a math exam somewhere in there too.

Anyway though, for an update on my current life. My weeks have been getting busier and busier, which is strange because some of my classes are already starting to wrap up. However, the classes that I do have are still going strong. In my engineering class, the lecture part is ending but the discussion is still going. The discussion part is all project-based. The most recent project was toy dis-assembly. The main idea of this project was to reverse engineering a toy. We had to make an estimation about how a toy worked and then disassemble it and figure out how it actually worked. The toy my group chose was a Playskool Ball Popper. After removing the three screws from the bottom of the toy, we discovered there weren’t any more screws. The top button part was held in by notches around the casing. We also discovered the these notches were extremely hard to get out. The first time we took it apart we needed three people to get the notches out. We also knew we needed pictures of the disassembled item for our end presentation.

All the pieces from our toy

After taking more pictures and studying the pieces, we put it back together. Part of our project grade is making sure it works at the end. One of our group members got a little excited and put the notched piece in too soon.

They spent several minutes trying to take it apart again.

When we finally got it apart, again, we put the right pieces in and clicked everything into place only to discover the handle was turned the wrong way. So we had to take the whole thing apart again.

Taking it apart…again

Every time we took it apart we got faster at it, but we made sure this was the last time we had to take it apart. We put everything back together and it actually worked.

The completed working toy.

We then had to make a whole presentation about the dis-assembly process and describe the operation of each of the pieces. I think our presentation went really well and the peer feedback was positive. Now we just have to wait for the grade. Now we’re getting  ready to start our final project. I’ll keep you updated on that project. Until my next post (which will hopefully be soon), have a good week!

As great as college is, home is still the best. You start missing little things about home. Like your couch or your bathroom (weird, I know). Then you start missing the bigger things. Like coming home from a day at school and seeing your mom. Or taking a nap with your dog. Or going to a movie with your family. Everyone gets homesick and everyone needs to talk about home once in a while. Even though I live fairly close and get to go home pretty frequently, it seems like the time at home is never enough. I went home this past weekend and spent the afternoon with my pets. I thought I’d share a couple of pictures.

Emma, my lab/setter. She was very excited to see me so she didn’t want to have pictures taken.

Zoey, my hyperactive australian shepherd. It took a bit of patience to get her to hold still.

It was good to go home to see my pets and family. Unfortunately, with trying to catch with family and friends and just enjoying home, I never get any homework done. This leads to staying up late Sunday night to get Monday’s homework done. But home is still important and totally worth the late night. It’s not a bad thing to be homesick. Everyone gets homesick at some point. It’s nice to talk to friends about home. Hearing about their home lets you learn more about them while they feel better and it gives you a slight distraction from being homesick. Then you can have chance to talk about your home so you feel better.

If your next trip home is still a ways away, try these tips:

1. Do something. Get a group together and go out to eat, to get ice cream, ice skating, or just playing frisbee in the park.
2. Have a movie night. Pick one of your favorite movies that reminds you of home, like a family favorite, and share it with some friends.
3. Write emails. Tell your family about college life. They’ll be happy to hear from you and it will feel more like you’re with them just telling them about what’s going on.
4. Keep reminders of home. Sometimes, the more you try not to miss home, the more you miss home. Let yourself miss it and look through pictures. Wrap yourself in that blanket mom sent and watch a movie or read a book and imagine you’re at home. Sometimes you just need time to yourself to think about home.

Hope everyone is doing well with midterms! Thanksgiving break is getting closer!

Ok, it’s not actually a party. At least not that kind of party. It was a study party.

This was the start of the night, around 6:30pm.

A friend in my Chemistry lecture decided that we should study together. We slowly added people and papers until……..

By about midnight(yes, 6 hours of studying) the papers and people had exploded

It was a late night (went to bed at 2am) and I thought I studied really well. The study party was a lot of fun though, and it even included a last minute run to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt. The break definitely helped us to focus more and gave a nice 20 minute distraction, then it was back to the books (and computers and notes). Unfortunately, I didn’t do very well on my first Chemistry exam, at least not as well as I would have liked. I’ll have to come up with a new study plan. The group study party was a lot of fun and I think it’s a good form of review for exams, just maybe not a great initial study plan.

I think that’s one of the hardest things about college, figuring out what works for you. Everyone wants to do well, and it’s always disappointing when you don’t do as well as you wanted. You also need to remember to get enough sleep along with studying. It seems like we’re really full-swing into the semester. I’m basically buried in homework with a small, hopeful light at the end of the tunnel (hoping for a break from homework next weekend). It seems like you’re always trying to juggle starting the homework you were just assigned and completing the homework that’s due the next day. Everyone tells you to start the homework early but somehow, early never works out and you end up doing it last minute.

I think part of the key is learning what each professor expects and what kind of homework each professor gives. Most professors I have are fairly consistent. The homework looks about the same every week, so you can start to develop a feel of how long it will take to get done. If only the weekend were one day longer, I could be so much more productive and even operate on decent sleep!

Good luck to everyone with exams this week!

Hey Hawkeyes!

Wow, talk about a busy week and weekend. Has it already been almost a week since my last post?! I’ll give you a short rundown on last week.

Tuesday night, with no pressing homework, was the fun night of going out for frozen yogurt with some friends. Just so you know, Orange Leaf’s chocolate and carmel yogurt with butterfingers is really good.

Wednesday started the University Band, which is the non-audition band here at Iowa. Anyone can do it, and you even get a credit for it. We played through the music we will be playing for our concert which is December 3rd, for those who want to check it out. We’re playing some pretty cool pieces.

Thursday night, a few friends and I went out for ice cream with some new friends that were sophomores in engineering. We met at an engineering gathering in the Seamans Center (engineering building) and they were really helpful in giving advice about classes and professors.

Friday brought the scramble to submit the Chemistry homework by 11:59pm. A group of girls on my floor gathered in a room to help each other and we finished the homework with plenty of time to spare.  As a celebration of finishing the Chemistry homework, we went to the movie playing at the Iowa Memorial Union.

Saturday meant sleeping in (finally!) and of course, the big football game against Iowa State. This was my first college football game so I was a little nervous and a little excited. I walked to Kinnick Stadium with a friend, but somehow got separated once we were there. There were so many people! I ended up standing next to some people I didn’t know, but they were very friendly and helped fill me in on how things usually worked at the games. A few pictures from my first Hawkeye football game:

Even though we didn’t win, it was still a ton of fun. Campus was really quiet afterwards, so it was a little depressing. I’m excited for this week’s game against Northern Iowa. Go Hawks!

Hey Hawkeyes!

I hope everyone has been having a great week, especially with the great 3-day weekend. It was great to go home and see friends from high school. We all swapped college stories and talked about how college life was going. As great as it was to be home, I was actually pretty happy to come back to campus and see friends.

With the homework due this week and my first Chemistry exam next week (Yikes!!!!) we’ve been spending quite a bit of time studying. I love living on the Women in Science and Engineering floor because we’re all freaking out about a lot of the same homework. It’s also nice being able to go with a friend to a tutoring session so you don’t have to walk in by yourself. It’s awesome having people who can help understand concepts when you’ve read the same page 10 times and still don’t understand it.

So until next time, have fun studying!

Happy study time 🙂

Hey Hawkeyes!

Wow, it’s definitely not syllabus week anymore. Upperclassman always say the first week is the easiest because you always go over the syllabus and talk about expectations and policy in class. Now that we’re on to the second week of class, the homework has really hit hard. I think the best way is just to write down somewhere, the homework that’s due for that week in a list form by order of due dates. That’s what I’m trying right now anyway.

The weather has also warmed up quite a bit. The lecture halls are a bit chilly but when you’re speed walking to get from one class to another in 10 minutes, it does get really warm. I love getting to class early and not having to sit clear in the back. Unfortunately, I have a class that gets out at 9:20 and one that starts at 9:30. So far the earliest I’ve been able to get there is 9:27, at which time there are a few open seats in the back. It is also one of my largest classes(about 200 I think) so when you’re in the back, you feel like you’re waaaayyy in the back.

Anyway, homework awaits me. Hopefully it goes faster at a decent time of night rather than in the early hours of the morning. Have an awesome evening!