My first semester...

at Clemson feels like it was both ages ago and just yesterday.  But it was only a year ago (and a whole year ago).  It's weird.

I went to campus Tuesday to help out the AWWA with the Tiger Prowl, an event for incoming freshman to scope out the organizations they might be interested in joining.  I'm president-elect for the AWWA.  I don't think I've mentioned that.

In April/May/something like that, the AWWA (the same organization that held a great "employment panel," a networking event for those interested in the water/wastewater field) had a meeting to determine next year's executive committee.  The way it works is that the president-elect, treasurer and secretary are all voted in.  The president is last year's president-elect.  So, next year's president-elect is this year's president-elect.  ANYWAY.  I signed up to be treasurer since I'm good with money (lame, but I wanted to be involved in some way).  I noticed one of my classmates was signed up as president-elect, and he seemed a good fit, so I wasn't going to "fight" him for the position.  What happened though, is that nobody actually signed up for president-elect, and they just randomly chose someone.  So, long story short, I became the president-elect since they already had people for all the other positions.  What this means is that next year, I become the president, and that this year and next, I have an all-expenses-paid trip to the South Carolina Environmental Conference for this year and next, which is apparently a great event for networking. :) I'm thrilled!

Did I mention a few years ago about a job offer from University of Pennsylvania (basically I would have been doing exactly the same thing as a previous job, being their all-around tech person--something I really enjoyed)?  I've been watching a TV series for teens that's really more like a soap opera for teens and they're all going to college, etc., so I've been thinking about the "status symbol" of going to an Ivy League college. (I WILL NOT divulge what show I'm watching.)  The person that offered me the job said that it wouldn't be difficult for me to get into UPenn as a student.  I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake in not taking the job.  How awesome would UPenn look as an employer AND my alma mater on my resume?  Think of the networking I could've had.  They also offer a B.S. in environmental engineering.  On the other hand, as the #5 school in the country, I might have a 2.5 GPA instead of a 3.5.  *shrug*  Who knows.  Maybe in some alternate universe, I'd be regretting my UPenn decision. ;)

So, anyway, those are my thoughts over the last few days.  My classes are mostly "blah" so far.  I hate my schedule.  My classes don't start until 11:15AM at the earliest, which drives me CRAZY.  I like to get my classes done as early as possible so I can focus on studying/work, and besides that, by the time I arrive at class, I'm a sweaty mess and THERE'S NO PARKING.

Back to school!

I haven't posted in forever, so I'm probably talking to myself at this point.  But I figure in a few years, I'll enjoy reading these entries.

Kleo is still just one big bundle of energy.  She does everything full-throttle.  Playing with toys, playing with Jaiden, going for walks, chasing bugs, etc.  It's usually cute and occasionally annoying.  She's somewhat high-maintenance in that she gets bored easily.  She's fully kennel trained now, and she'll go in there and sleep (although when I'm in the shower, she'll go sleep in Jaiden's kennel--I don't know why... maybe it's more comfortable?).  I'm looking forward to when she's a little bit older and slows down a bit.

This summer, I've been BUSY.  In addition to my regular job, I decided to take a class during the first six weeks of summer just to get it out of the way, and I've had an internship at Clemson (today's my last day, WOOT!).  My internship has been... wait for it...

Programming.  I knew the internship required some programming experience, but it was advertised as needing students in the environmental engineering or geology majors, so I didn't think it would be focused so heavily on programming.  That was fairly disappointing, especially considering I'm changing careers to get OUT of computers and  programming.  But, if nothing else, I suppose it'll look decent enough on my resume.

Yesterday, I gave a pretty decent presentation (to my professor and the others he's advising... about 8 people in total) on my internship.  Normally, I dread presentations.  When I was younger, I memorized my presentations, and if I couldn't remember something, I'd freak and stumble along.  So, I began to just wing it on most of my presentations, and just try to remember the main points.  That didn't work well either, so I just plain hated giving presentations.  I've gone back to memorizing again, but if I can't remember something, I'll take a few seconds to relax, try to remember, and if I can't, then I'll just move on.  It's worked well, and my nerves aren't nearly as frayed when I have to present.

I'm considering grad school, which is something I never thought I'd be interested in.  Clemson offers a 5-year BS/MS, so I'd just have to take an additional year of classes and I'd have a (non-thesis) MS.  I have to keep my GPA at or above 3.4 and right now it's at 3.53.  So I really need to kick ass the next couple of years.

I start school (technically my junior year, even though my status is "senior") on Wednesday.  I'll be taking economics, water/wastewater treatment, fluid mechanics and environmental history.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this semester, but I know that in a few short weeks, I'll be looking forward to the end of the semester.