No, I did not actually die at the end of last semester. It was a particularly unrestful winter break, however, due to excessive traveling and excessive our-apartment-is-falling-apart-but-they-won't-let-us-move raging. Now, the fateful day has arrived: the first day of classes. Time to brace myself and charge headfirst into chaos.
So, what does the new semester hold for me? Well, hopefully it will mean increased motivation above all. I'm taking some classes that I'm terribly excited about, and the class I'm teaching this semester is not only NOT at 9 AM, it is also NOT a non-major class, NOT a 100-level class, and NOT 120 students large. Instead, it starts at a very reasonable 11:00 AM, contains all music and computer science majors, is a 300-level class, and is capped at 30 students with 10 students per lab session. The lab is what I'll be teaching, and the course material is right up my alley. Intro to Music and Computers, AKA Intro to What I'll Supposedly Be Doing for the Rest of My Life. I'm actually looking forward to this, and it'll mean I get to brush up on lots of material I should know like the back of my hand anyway.
The professor I'm TA-ing for this semester is a visiting lecturer from Berklee, and I have to admit that I was nervous at first. All the professors around here are so snobby and anti-idealist, I was starting to fear that all computer music professors at the graduate level would be the same way. Not so. Within the first few minutes, we were pretty comfortably chatting, he was asking me for book recommendations for the class, and we jointly expressed our frustration over the crappiness of this school and the disorganized nature of the program. I thought it was just me that got kicked into the middle of everything and told to just "figure it out"; well, turns out they extend that same courtesy to faculty members. This guy has restored my hope that maybe you CAN stick with this field and not let academia turn you into a jaded, pretentious asshole. Ah, the light at the end of the tunnel. Fortunately, I also have this same guy for my composition lessons this semester, so I'm looking forward to working with him in that respect as well.
One thing that I think will help keep my sanity as well is that my schedule is much more cohesive than it was last semester. Most of my classes occur in the 11:00-2:00 range, with a few exceptions, which makes sharing the car with the husband-unit much easier. Less evening classes also means I might be able to keep up a light raiding schedule for World of Warcraft this semester. Yes, I know, not exactly top priority, but it's one of those small bits of social interaction that I value very much. I'm also auditioning for the choir at our local Unitarian Universalist church ((What? Me in a church?! I know, crazy. But it's all non-religious and relaxed and fun!)), so that will hopefully be another fun and social activity. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but overall, life seems on track for a much healthier and happier semester.
I'm going to kill whoever has been making that annoying beeping noise for the past TEN MINUTES in the next cubicle.
Healthier, happier semester.
There's about to be blood.
Beep....beep....
