It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be in terms of difficulty. I was relieved after it was done with, of course, but then oddly I kept worrying I'd left a question slot blank. True, I'd check the test three times to make sure--but something in me still wondered and wondered incredibly loudly.
And so I spoke with the first 1st year grad student I could run into over at the psych building, and we chatted. Boy was Eugenia (another grad student) right: you should never compare test answers. It turns that either this other 1st year or I made a screw-up in a calculation somewhere. Still, that was one part of one question and I'm certain I either nailed everything else or will get most of the credit for the problem.

So, since that faithful set of hours this morning, I've picked through the literature on the first-year project I'm doing while watching the 3rd presidential debate at a coffee house.

Apparently, from what I can hear, I've started no less than 3 conversations on politics and the campaign just from watching the archived feed from C-Span. Oddly enough this gentleman who looked like a more woodsy version of Dr. Zivago came up and was fascinated by my wireless connection. He asked a bunch of questions about and I politely mentioned this or that function, how easy it was with the built-in software to get a connection, etc. It was very odd because strangers don't approach me often (unless they're bums). Later on he came back to ask a few more questions and inquired about the debate, who I supported, etc. Funny enough I've never been asked this question, so I told him I'd been with Kerry since the primaries. He was too from what he mentioned. He thanked me for the chat and left. God did he look like a thinner Dr. Zivago.

So now it's an hour before the incoming graduate class's Post-Midterm Alcohol Fest at a bar. This was organized by the amusingly dorky party dude of the 25 of us. See, all of us are automatically shipped into this stats class, so it's sortof like a collective trial by fire.

It's been a hard class, so we're rewarding ourselves--and I feel good about that with all the work I've done today.

We're a surprisingly social bunch, now that I think about it. Damn, that reminds me: I never talked about the movie night. It was back on Friday when the 2nd debate was given. I decided to make a night of it afterward and stay for a showing of Star Wars Episode 4 (the first one of the original trilogy). Some of us were geeks, some weren't, but we all had fun. It was..cool being able to see some grad students outside of school.

Anyway, I need to drop this laptop and my valise off before I head to the psych building. Sortof a shame, since the debate is ending and two german gentlemen are talking about socialist workers in Germany.

Regardless, off to drinking and trying to get rid of the lingering doubts I have over the test.

I did the best I could under the circumstances--admirably so compared to a similar stat. class I took as an undergrad. I hope I really made it.

previous - next